Feeling
by Presumptuous Cynic
Summary: Delilah is a girl whose feelings are almost always hidden behind an emotionless mask. As she lives her life in solitude, someone unexpected pulls her out of the darkness... Gunther/OC
1. Heartless

Heartless

"I am Gunther!"

"And I am Tinka!"

"And we're the Hessenheffers!"

Once again, the fraternal twins made their usual entrance into the school hallway, and Rocky and CeCe were planning witty comebacks and snarky comments yet again. Tucking her earbuds into her head, Delilah started listening to Toxic by A Static Lullaby as to avoid listening to the usual argument the four frenemies had every morning.

And of course that morning, fate decided to be cruel.

"Hello BAY-BEE!" Gunther had the gall that morning to wrap his arm around Delilah and take out one of her earbuds for a change of pace. "We never talk! As the Americans say, what is up?"

By the sudden change and complete horror, the entirety of the hallway had held their breath awaiting to see what would Delilah's reaction be and what would become of Gunther.

Judging by Delilah's emotionless exterior and her zero tolerance for irritation, they knew it wasn't going to end well.

And they were right.

Delilah had taken the other earbud out, (making even such a simple action look threatening), and had turned off her iPod touch. "Get your hands off me. You're annoying me," Her words had come out so cold, and there was a dark aura around Delilah's exterior. The air had become tense, and Gunther had slowly taken his hand away from her shoulder.

"Why am I annoying you? I am just greeting you a happy morning!" Gunther tried to smile, but found it difficult.

"The morning doesn't have any happy appearance, fool. It only has the sun, clouds, and apparently irritable idiots. And you annoy me by your mere prescence," Delilah had said all of this without a hint of emotion on her face, and she looked so calm yet murderous. "Please return to your sister Tinka and leave me be."

Gunther sighed deeply. "Why are you so mean all the time, Delilah? Why cannot you smile? It is easy, see?" Gunther had demonstated giving a smile, pointing to his face.

"It is also easy to act like an idiot. And I am not being mean- I am just saying what I think of you. Irritable, annoying, stupid, foolish, an overall idiot who doesn't know his place. Now I will ask you only once more. Leave me _**alone**_."

Gunther's smile dropped. "Why...?"

Gunther had suddenly put his head down. "Why are you acting this way?"

The girl who had saved him from those bullies back in the first grade had flashed through his mind. She was brave and strong, and kind to stand up for him. A hero- someone he looked up to. Was Delilah really that person? His hero?

_** "What happened to that girl in first grade? I looked up to her! Where is she now? She was my friend- my first friend! And now...!"**_ Gunther uncharacteristically yelled at Delilah, his face red and his eyes blurry. "I don't know you..." He hissed, striding down the hall to his next class in a rage.

The event finished, the other students had proceeded to avoid Delilah as usual, but with more caution than ever before.

CeCe, Rocky and Tinka had slowly approached Delilah with dissapointment in their eyes.

"Now look what you did to my brother. Why are you so...**heartless?**" Tinka whispered, running away to leave CeCe, Rocky and Delilah alone.

"Delilah," Rocky started, but she had no idea what else to say. "CeCe, we're going to be late. We have to go."

CeCe stood her ground. "I know you're my sister but... Tinka was right. You had no right to say those things to Gunther. You _are_ heartless." Then, the two left the hallway to leave Delilah by herself.

_ Heartless...huh._

The bell rung, and Delilah found no use in going to her next class so soon. After taking some deep breaths, she went to the teachers office for her pass and proceeded to go to first period. _

After the last bell rung, Delilah had taken her bag and other belongings out with her and decided to walk home considering it might be tense in the bus ride home. She didn't feel like putting up with the dissapointed glances and scared faces.

In her mind, Delilah thought she had her right to say those things. It's what she honestly thought and he was annoying her. Besides, he was too distracting and she needed to focus on other stuff. And Gunther WAS an idiot for approaching her in the first place. Didn't he know not to do that?

But in her heart Delilah knew she was in the wrong. Gunther didn't really do anything wrong- in all truth, he was trying to brighten Delilah's day. He had cared about her, and acknowledged her and that was how she repaid him- by calling him those names and pushing him away.

When she was alone in an alley, Delilah had let her feelings of fustration and guilt come out. Taking her already injured hand from digging her nails into her palms so much, she had started hitting the wall with the soft part of her hand, muttering to herself.

_ "I was so stupid back there! Why did I do that to him? Why do I have to be such an idiot all the time, huh? Damn it!"_ She hissed, letting the pain become apparent, now seeing her hand tinged with raw pink flesh and blood.

After wrapping her hands in some bandages she kept in her bag, she had slipped on her fingerless gloves again and started to walk out when all of a sudden three guys came in tackling a fourth guy to the ground. Quickly, Delilah had hidden behind a garbage bin and looked for a way out when a flash of blonde hair caught her eye.

_ Gunther!_

Gunther was on the ground, his arms bruised and forehead bleeding. Delilah looked back at the group and realized it was Frankie the "Complication" and his gang.

"You can go back to where you came from, freak!" Frankie had kicked Gunther in the ribs, and a loud crack! was heard.

Not fully conscious of what she was doing, Delilah had let her fustration come out from before in a furious stage. She had let out a growl as she appeared from behind the garbage bin and tackled Frankie to the ground, wrapping her hands around his throat.

Gunther watched with horror as Delilah had started squeezing Frankie's neck, his breathing becoming haggard.

The other two members of Frankie's group was about to pull Delilah off Frankie until they saw a look in her eyes that they deemed as inhumane.

There was a fire in her eyes, and they knew not to mess with her. In that moment, she wasn't human. She was a monster, and was fully capable of murder.

The other two had run away, leaving a horrified Gunther and Delilah strangling Frankie.

Her nails sunk deep into Frankie's neck, his loud screams only coming out in little intervals as she choked him near to death.

But before Frankie had begun to pass out, Delilah gave him a scary look and whispered in his ear.

_ "Don't you dare do this again, or you __**will **__pay."_

Letting go of Frankie, she had gotten off him and he started running away barely escaping with his life.

Her nails painted a deep red with Frankie's blood, Delilah turned to Gunther who shook against the alley wall, completely scarred by what he had witnessed.

When Delilah took a step toward Gunther, he had tried backing up, but only found brick behid him. He had nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Completely helpless against this heartless monster.

It was the same thing back in the first grade. Delilah had the same crazed look on her face and Gunther was still shaking with fear. Nothing changed- only time had taken its course, and Delilah didn't look as much of a hero but more of a monster.

But the problem was, Gunther didn't know if Delilah would let him go this time.

The moment froze. Time had halted, and both teens held their breath wondering what would happen next.

"Are you okay?" Delilah asked him, her eyes softened and her shoulders were broad.

_ She said the same thing back then. _Gunther nodded. "I will be alright."

Time had reversed for that second, and first grade had replayed through their mind again.

The young and present Delilah held out their hand. "Let me help you."

Both Gunther's nodded with a half smile. "Thank you," They took Delilah's hand, and a feeling of hope surged through both.

It had only lasted for a second however, and the two returned to the present. Hand in hand, Delilah led Gunther to CeCe's apartment for treatment of his cuts and bruises. Gunther turned to Delilah, his face showing signs of exhaustion and weariness. But he wore a smile. "I know you."

Delilah looked away, and she sighed. "You're careless, you idiot."

Gunther only laughed, and when she thought he wasn't looking she slightly smiled to herself.

Gunther had sneaked a look at Delilah. _I guess she is not as heartless as I thought.__

**Extended Ending:**

The next morning came. And the usual followed.

"I am Gunther!"

"And I am Tinka!"

"And we're the Hessenheffers!"

This time, Beside You by Marianas Trench (which was a tone down from the song before) blared through Delilah's earphones. About to walk to her first period and ignoring the four who were about to start their argument they missed yesterday, she was interrupted by Gunther yet again pulling one of her earphones out and swinging his arm around her.

"Hello, bay-bee! What is up?" He had said, this time not so loudly.

Tinka, CeCe, Rocky and practically the rest of the students in that hallway thought Gunther was crazy. After what happened yesterday, why was he confronting Delilah again? Was he crazy?

Emotionless as ever, but her voice less intimidating, Delilah had spoke. "The cieling, Gunther. And please don't call me bay-bee. It's weird."

She shrugged off his arm from her shoulder. Feeling rejected again, Gunther's face fell.

"Next time, just call me Delilah."

The students froze. Did...

Did Delilah just...accept _Gunther_?

Gunther's face lit up. His smile returned brighter, and Delilah gave an acknowledging nod.

CeCe, Tinka and Rocky's mouths hung open.

Rocky was the first to speak. "What _happened_?"

Gunther's eyes never left Delilah as she walked into the classroom.

_ There is my hero from that day. Delilah._


	2. Memories

Memories

"Happy Morning, Delilah!" Gunther greeted Delilah with an arm slung around her neck. Ever since that incident a few months ago, the morning routine went differently. Instead of an arguement of Gunther and Tinka against CeCe and Rocky, after Gunther and Tinka had announced their arrival in school, Gunther would walk right up to Delilah and greet her.

This change was drastic considering Delilah wasn't a very open and social person like Gunther was, but she made do with it and unconsciously got used to a morning with Gunther's strong arms around her.

It took a few weeks for CeCe, Rocky, and Tinka to get used to it, but they had slowly approved of Delilah and Gunther's mornings and even gotten to the point of greeting Delilah themselves a few times in the middle of the day.

"You too, Gunther. So, anything new?" Delilah asked, no hint of actual interest in her voice.

"Oh, a new routine we learned on Shake It Up! Chicago. It is actually a bit more complicated than the normal dance we do," Even though Delilah didn't sound like she was interested, Gunther had still proceeded to open up to her and start up a conversation every day. Sure Delilah wasn't exactly how she was back then in first grade, but she was still his hero. And he enjoyed every minute with his friend.

"A new routine, huh? That's nice. How does it go?"

Gunther had smiled. "Why do not you find out yourself? Come with me after school and you can watch me and everyone else in action on set!"

Delilah moved her head to look at Gunther. "Isn't rehearsal private for you guys? Are visitors allowed?"

He smirked. "What is it you Americans say? I can push a few strings?"

Delilah sighed. "It's pull a few strings, Gunther. And I don't know. Usually I babysit Flynn while Cecelia is at rehearsal, so I don't know who else can babysit other than Martin and Tyler. And they probably have things to do."

Gunther stopped in his tracks, letting go of Delilah. "Who is this Martin and Tyler you are speaking?"

CeCe found this as an opportunity to jump in the conversation, since other than Rocky she was forced to talk to Tinka.

With Tinka, all they could talk about is clothes. And half the time, they were talking about how ugly CeCe's were.

"Gunther, she means Ty and Deuce," CeCe explained.

"Oh!" He turned to Delilah. "Why didn't you just say that?"

Delilah shrugged. "I go by real names. I refer to CeCe as Cecelia, Rocky as Raquel, Ty as Tyler and Deuce as Martin. I find nicknames pointless."

Rocky was already getting tired of being insulted by Tinka as well. "But they're so fun to use!"

Finding no one to talk to, Tinka decided to add in her word. "Yes! It sounds more...casual?"

Delilah sighed. "Well that's your opinion. I just don't use nicknames."

"Or maybe...that's only because YOU don't have a nickname," Rocky smiled, pointing at Delilah.

Gunther nodded. "Rocky is right! Let us pick out a nickname for you."

"Whatever. But don't expect me to respond to it," With that, Delilah left the hallway, leaving the four to think on a nickname.

"Didi?" CeCe suggested, thinking it sounded cute. The rest shook their heads.

"It doesn't sound like something you would refer to Delilah with. It sounds too carefree, and Delilah is mostly serious. How about Lala? It's like the music," Rocky said, and was easily rejected.

"No, Delilah does not sing or play any music. Does she?" Tinka asked her brother, and Gunther just shrugged.

"I do not know her that much."

"Then no Lala. I know! Deli!" This was quickly shut down by CeCe's saying it was referring to Delilah as a sandwich.

After thinking for a while, Gunther came up with a nickname. "How about Lilah? It refers to her name and sounds perfect!"

"Lilah..." The group tested out the name.

CeCe smiled. "Yeah, that should do."

The four agreed on the name. As the three left to their classes, only Gunther remained and was about to head to his locker when suddenly the bell rang.

_Great. _

Caught in the hallway without a pass and late to class, Gunther was assigned to detention after school._

When school ended, Delilah was the only one left in the hallway, for her locker was far from her last period. As Delilah was stuffing her school supplies into her bag, a very familiar name had rung through the air.

"Lilah!"

Delilah froze. She dropped her bag, and her hands shook.

_"Lilah? Lilah?"_

Delilah held her head in her right hand as she remembered against her will.

_"Lilah! You're going to be late for school! Stop wasting your time and get to the bus stop!" Madeline Flowers scolded her daughter and pushed her out the door, throwing the backpack at her face in the process. _

_Rubbing her forehead, the young Delilah grabbed her backpack and stood on that winter day without a jacket near the stop sign. Delilah shook with cold as she felt herself go hungry for she didn't get to eat breakfast that morning, and her mother took away her coat priviliges for wasting her time putting on her shoes. _

_Lilah...they didn't even bother saying her full name, Delilah. The orgin, that she looked up from the library's internet was from the Hebrew language. Her name meant delicate. _

_And it was true. Delilah had a very fragile body from being underfed, and she was scared easily. But her parents always had her carry various items around the house and made her push the couches when they needed to redecorate, so her hands became tough. _

_But she was thankful for them. At least she had parents that were there. And she learned from school that sometimes parents made you do things you didn't want to do for your own good. So surely, they were trying to turn Delilah into a good person, and head her towards the right path?_

_The more Delilah had thought about it, the more she doubted.__

_After school was over, Delilah was excited to come home. Her parents had something exciting planned that day, she just knew it! She had forgotten. Today was December 5th! It was her birthday!_

_The class teacher said so- the whole class even sang happy birthday to her! _

_When Delilah arrived at the door, she painted a smile on her face and let herself in using the key under the mat. But when she came in, she didn't see anything special._

_No sweet smells or sounds of the words "happy birthday" greeted her like when she came to school. No music playing or smiles. Her parents weren't there. _

_Shrugging, she concluded they would wait for later. Upstairs, she went to the attic that served as her room. Sure it wasn't a real room, but it was very spacious and since the family didn't really have a lot of stuff nothing cluttered. But it was super cold, since there was no AC in there. _

_But what made up for it was the large window that stretched from the top to the bottom of the attic, and took up most of the space of the wall. It wasn't just the fact that the design was different from the others- it had a beautiful view of Chicago, and Delilah could see everything about the city. She could see the Sears tower, the malls, her own school even! That's why she never asked her parents about having a real room with AC. _

_After she was done with her homework, Delilah had decided to wait for the call of her parents to wish her happy birthday. But then, the light left the room as day turned into night. Lighting a candle for light and warmth, Delilah sniffled a bit. When are her parents going to greet her?_

_**The candle burnt out. **_

_That night, they didn't even bother calling her for dinner. _

_As she lay in her cot, she cried herself to sleep. What happened to her happy birthday?__

"Lilah! Lilah!" Gunther greeted Delilah, his face shining bright. But as soon as he saw the fallen bag and her head in her shaking hand, his smile dropped into a concerned frown.

"Lilah? What is the matter?"

He reached to touch her cheek for comfort, but she quickly moved away, her head banging into her locker door. Her hand never stopped shaking, and her eyes never left the floor. "Get away from me..." She whispered.

Gunther was taken aback by this sudden change in behavior. He bent down to her small level, and looked at her face. He was shocked by what he saw.

_Fear._

**"I said get **_**away **_**from me!" **Delilah said, her voice an octave higher.

But Gunther stayed put.

Without another word, he had enveloped her into an embrace.

Still shaking, Delilah continued yelling at him to get away, hitting Gunther with her left hand. But with each hit, Gunther only tightened his arms around her even more.

And when his arms tightened around her, Delilah felt more warm. No, it wasn't just her body temperature becoming more warm. Streams of warmth ran down her cheeks, and her yells were reduced to little sniffles and gasps of air.

Her fear stricken eyes dimmed down to the eyes of her past self, when she was crying herself to sleep in her room that night.

"I do not know why you are acting like this...but..." Gunther had softened his tight embrace into a softer hold. "I will keep you safe. No one will break you."

Upon hearing this, Delilah's hands slowly made their way to Gunther's back and she buried her face into his shoulder. "Thank you, Gunther."

The time they spent there in their embrace was long. But not long enough, for Gunther had to go to detention. He hesitantly let Delilah go as she was done crying, and he stood up. Upon standing, he finally noticed how...

_Small and fragile she looked._

Delilah looked like a doll, standing there with no emotion showing in her face. Her exterior was minature- she could be easily mistaken for a third or second grader. Her cheeks were rosy from crying and her eyes were glassy.

Gunther quickly shut off a last thought that crossed his mind, and put a hand on her shoulder. "I have to go to the detention room now. Wait outside the school for me, okay?"

Delilah stayed silent, but walked out of the doors of the school. Assuming she decided to go home instead, Gunther sighed and went to detention._

When Gunther was done, he had started walking out of the school when a small figure caught his eye.

_Delilah._

She laid down on the grass, her body curled up. She appeared to be sleeping, her breathing deep and her face peaceful.

So she _did_ wait for him.

Shaking his head but smiling as well, Gunther slung both bags behind him and strapped them securely together. After, he took the doll-like girl in his arms and walked the way to CeCe's.

When Gunther had picked Delilah up, Delilah's dreamless sleep changed. The memory of the candle returned to her head and suddenly she saw that the candle had somehow ignited once again. The flame grew and grew until its light filled the cold attic, and through her child self, she smiled. _

**Extended Ending:**

After Gunther had brought Delilah home, Gunther had to walk the way back to his apartment. But as he walked, a past thought plagued his mind. At that moment in the hallway, did he really think such a thing?

_That even after crying, Delilah managed to remain beautiful._


	3. Music

Music

The sound of a piano playing a familiar melody echoed throughout Delilah's mind as she entered the music room. Her usually dark memories of her parents made way for a rare thought of happiness.

_Yes, _she remembered. It was a boy about five inches shorter than Gunther at the time, but still towered over her like a sky scraper.

He had abnormally white hair and blood red eyes, and he had...shark teeth?

The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was true. His teeth WAS sharp.

_Third grade, Delilah was seven. She walked down the hallways of the huge middle school that her new mother said that she was going to attend. _

_"Seriously, it's huge," The small girl muttered to herself as she made her way through the halls. Just then, she heard a...piano._

_Following the dark and speeding tempo of the haunting melody, she ran through the school searching for the room that carried the sound. Finally after much running, she found the room where she could hear the mesh of key strokes so clearly. The song was uncoordinated at first, but the more she listened, she could hear that the pianist was actually staying in a range of notes. _

_The notes changed in her ears, as she finally realized what the pianist was trying to convey. the scramble of notes was frantic, and constant. Like...fear. _

_But there was something else to it._

_She could feel...strength. And adrenaline. But also, faith and confidence. _

_"A soul," Delilah had whispered to herself. Suddenly, the piano stopped playing. Did the pianist hear her?_

_The door opened to reveal a boy who looked to be around her age, but still way taller than her. His eyes like hers, didn't give out any emotion. They stared at each other for a long while, until the boy spoke. "You're right. It's my soul."_

_His eyes softened, and he dug his hands into his brown pants pockets. "That's also my name. Soul."_

_All Delilah could do was nod. "My name is Delilah. It's a pleasure to meet you, Soul."_

_Soul moved to the side, letting Delilah in. "So, why are you here? I mean, playing the piano isn't all that is your business in this school, right?"_

_Soul shook his head. "I'm here to eat."_

_"Eat? I don't think there's any food in the cafeteria in the summer..."_

_He chuckled. "Not the food I'm looking for anyways," Soul leaned closer to Delilah. "Want to know what I'm going to eat here?"_

_Not getting a response, Soul decided to go on ahead and say it. "Evil souls."_

_Pulling his head back expectantly for a scream or a gasp, he smirked. But after a few minutes of waiting, Delilah's stayed the same. Emotionless. _

_"What? You aren't scared? Freaked out?" Soul raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised._

_"No. If it's what you eat, it's what you eat. You eat evil souls, fine," Delilah said, her gaze never wavering from his. _

_After a while, Soul started laughing. "Really? You really think that?" He laid his hand on Delilah's shoulder, and his laughing toned down. He showed off his pointy teeth in a smile. "Delilah, you're sort of cool. Do you play anything?"_

_Delilah looked around. "I play a little guitar and ukulele, but they aren't here. I sing, though."_

_Soul once again sat himself down at the piano. "What song? I probably know it."_

_The girl thought for a while until she came up with a song. "Style?"_

_Soul nodded. "Good song choice," He turned his attention to the piano, and started playing the simple yet sweet melody._

_"It'll start when I knock on the door_

_that ties us together, but _

_what kind of future will be_

_waiting for us l wonder?_

_The thing we look for as we grow_

_is a utterly perfect style_

_One day like gears turning,_

_We'll be learning that things will work out..._

_God of you are there, please listen_

_Please watch over these moments for we cannot relive them again_

_So just for a little while longer,_

_I want to stay a little kid_

_There are so many boys and girls out in the world, with no regrets_

_They'll keep running and dreaming,_

_and live their story..."_

_Delilah finished, with Soul looking back at her smiling. "I have to say, you're talented," Soul closed the piano, leaving the room. _

_"I had a good time. One day, let's meet again. Delilah..." Soul closed the door behind him, leaving Delilah sitting alone on the stool.__

Delilah sat on the old stool, and she stared at the piano Soul had played. The seat had dust on it. She remembered his soul, how it caught her own...

Sitting, she opened the piano and stared at its ivory and ebony keys.

So beautiful...

How did _her _soul play?

She tested out a few, and then after memorizing every sound the keys made she started her soul's song.

Delilah started off slow, still foreign to the piano, but after a while she had gotten used to the feel.

The melody she was making started off with sweet sounds, the feelings she felt before her mother and father had started acting cold- when she was a mere baby and they had no choice but to treat her with love.

Then, flashes of her bad memories came into view. Not knowing what she was doing exactly, her sweet melody turned into a melancholy one, and then when she remembered how her parents kicked her out, it turned into something similar to Soul's, but...more sad instead of furious.

She played this way for a long time until...she remembered when she had finally accepted Gunther as a friend. Her hands suddenly stopped playing, and her hands rested on a couple of keys before she began playing again.

The strokes were hesitant, like she didn't know how to push the keys down, and then she grew into it again. The notes were a mix of melancholy and happiness and it was a confusing melody until she remembered the time Gunther had held her in his arms and said that he would protect her.

The melody unbeknowest to her, turned into a hopeful tune. A slight bass, a couple of medium notes going higher. The sound became softer and much more calming, and it ended with a soft high C note.

"A soul."

Delilah's eyes widened. She softly smiled to herself before returning to her emotionless mask and opened the door.

Soul.

She stared at him for a long time before speaking. "You're right. It's my soul," Delilah's eyes softened. "It's nice meeting you again, Soul."

Gunther walked down the hallways, abnormally by himself without Tinka. He had to serve Saturday School after being late for his detention while he was comforting Delilah.

As he walked, he overheard a strange melody. Frantic and scary. But it was joined by a sad and beautiful one. A piano.

Gunther walked around the halls, searching for the sound. When he found the room, he listened in, taking in more of the intimidating and lovely sounds that echoed through the music room. When the sound of walking was heard, Gunther proceeded to run behind a trash bin.

"I had a good time. Let's meet again, one day," He heard. Gunther glanced at the person who said that and only saw a white tuft of hair.

"And we'll play on the piano together again, maybe. It was nice catching up with you, Soul. Good luck with capturing those evil souls," Gunther froze. Delilah?

"Thanks. Well see you," The boy named Soul walked away, leaving Delilah inside the room.

Gunther thought it best to keep quiet, and not tell anyone what he just witnessed. But what he was confused about was this strange feeling in his chest...

It felt like something was closing in on his heart.

Suddenly, he felt like marching into the music room and demanding who that guy Soul was. Gunther was mad, furious even. He felt his face go hot.

And then his stomach area grew cold.

What was this feeling?

Delilah had already left, leaving Gunther behind the bin in the hallway.

What was unknown to both of them was that Gunther was feeling heartbroken.


	4. Shine

Shine

Gunther came to school Monday in a way he never has before.

Without his usual confidence.

Gunther hadn't done the intro with Tinka he usually did, and he hung his head low.

After what happened that Saturday, Gunther didn't even have the heart to wear his sparkly and flashy clothes. In fact, he looked almost normal.

His hair wasn't styled like it was as well. His light bangs hung over his forehead, and it lacked all the usual product that was usually coaxed into his blonde locks.

And so, while Tinka wore a neon green mini dress with spandex leggings and golden boots including a silver sequin vest and a zebra print scarf, Gunther wore a black shirt and leather jacket with worn out jeans and converses.

You could say the school was shocked when they saw Gunther in his new attire.

Rocky and CeCe once again gaped like they had when Delilah had accepted Gunther as a friend, and Tinka lacked her smug grin that was always included in her features.

Delilah was surprised as well. Not by the fact that Gunther was different in appearance or confidence, but because she didn't recieve her ritual in the morning- Gunther coming over to her locker and greeting her a happy morning. Knowing something was up, she grabbed her books and forgetting to close her locker, she took a look at Gunther.

_No sparkles._

Remembering to keep her face straight, she walked up to the troubled teen. "What's wrong?"

Dully, Gunther turned to her. His head looked down to see her face, and even though his posture said otherwise, his eyes begged for her to say something. "I do not wish to talk about it."

His eyes spoke, however. They told her that she had done something, even though she had no idea what she did. "Alright, I won't pester you. Good luck with the rest of your day," And Delilah had walked away.

Gunther, his spirits dampened even more, had walked away slowly. _

The next day came. Gunther and Tinka once again didn't execute their usual greeting to the hallway, and Gunther had come to school now sporting a red shirt and black skinny jeans with a black overshirt and black converses. On his wrist, he wore a leather bracelet and his hair had acquired a black streak in his bangs.

Tinka had tried talking him out of it, but he had stubbornly went to a salon and had it done.

The worried sister had gone to Delilah and complained. "What happened to my brother? Why is he wearing all this dull clothing? It is so strange, and he even refuses to have the goat eyeball during dinner!" She looked down at her own clothing, and shuddered. Tinka had chosen to wear a black leather vest with a red jumpsuit and black belt with black heels and black bangles on her wrists. "I tried matching with his outfit this morning to show him I care, but he will not even look at me! I do not like this outfit, it is so...NOT FABULOUS!"

Delilah shrugged. "Not like I know. And your outfit is fine. In fact, it's the most normal outfit I've seen you in to date."

She shook her head. "That is not the point! Next thing that will happen, he will start doing depressing things like writing the poetry! I have seen that in those American movies!"

The little girl tip toed and put her hand on Tinka's shoulders. "It's fine. I'm going to fix this. You don't have to worry."

Tinka looked down on her hopefully. "Really?"

Delilah nodded. She removed her hand from Tinka's shoulder, and walked over to Gunther again.

"Hey," Delilah said, her hand in her pocket.

Gunther looked at her once, and looked away.

"You don't have any sparkle. Or any of those bold prints."

Gunther remained silent.

Delilah took her hand out of her pocket and held onto a small velvet black box. "That's why I got you this."

Curious, Gunther had looked back. His eyes widened when he saw the box, and so did CeCe's and Rocky's wandering eyes.

CeCe gasped. "What is that?"

"Do you think she's...proposing to Gunther?" Rocky shook, scared.

Delilah opened the box to reveal a small necklace, Gunther's first name plated in gold shining from the cotton. "I thought that since you didn't sparkle or show off, you should at least shine."

Gunther was at a loss for words. After a minute passed, he cracked a wide smile. "Delilah, I do not know what to say!"

Delilah remained looking soulless, but inside she hid a kind smile. "You don't have to say anything. Just kneel so I can clasp this around your neck."

Gunther nodded happily, and kneeled so he was at Delilah's eye level. Delilah then got closer to Gunther, close enough to make it look as if the two were hugging. The boy took in Delilah's scent of magnolias and strawberries.

A cold exterior, but very sweet.

After clasping the necklace on, before Gunther stood Delilah decided to place her lips on Gunther's cheek.

Tinka, CeCe, and Rocky froze in surprise. A smile came to their lips, and CeCe had to cover hers to keep from squealing.

When Gunther first felt Delilah's soft lips touch his cheek, he was instantly reminded of those magnolias. It felt as if a petal brushed against his face, and he could feel a warm breeze spiral around him once before he blushed.

It lasted only for a second, and Delilah quickly retracted. She looked back at the blushing boy and sighed.

"That was for being there for me, always. I want you to know I'll be there for you too," She said quietly, only for Gunther's ears.

Gunther nodded in understanding, and stood up. "Thank you, Delilah."

"But may I ask why you were so down?"

Gunther stayed still, his brain going haywire and looking for an excuse. He couldn't tell her that he saw her with that Soul boy, because that would give the impression that he was jealous!

Was he jealous?

...

"I lost my bedazzlers, and I couldn't find my fabric glue to add rhinestones to my vests. So if I couldn't dazzle any more clothing, I figured I couldn't dazzle myself anymore," He quickly said, his hands nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

Delilah spoke in a bored tone. "That's a lie."

Gunther looked away, his cheeks still rosy.

Delilah gave an exasperated sigh. "I'll deal with it, though. I won't pester you," Before Delilah walked away, she said one more thing. "Also, I like your black streak. But I think a light blue would be more fitting. It goes with your eyes."

This comment sent Gunther thinking steam was flowing out of his ears, and he continued rubbing his neck furiously, hoping it would ease some of his anxiety and hush his growing feelings.

Tinka looked at Gunther knowingly. "Could Gunther have... feelings for this girl?" She said to herself, smiling. "He's growing up..."

"I wonder when we'll get to do stuff like that..." Rocky sighed, gazing at the scene dreamily.

CeCe groaned. "How is it that even though I have my perfect good looks while Delilah's a shortstack, and she can get a guy while I can't?" She stomped her foot stubbornly. "It isn't fair!"


	5. Alice I

Alice I

That day, Delilah had possibly changed. She wasn't sure however, if it was for better or for worse.

Walking towards her locker, Delilah remained stone faced and collected. As she thought over the last couple months, her eyebrows knit together in frustration. How did things change so much in only a short time? At this rate, she might even...

No. That was unthinkable. The thought was horrendous.

_ Smile._

She didn't smile after that day of being kicked out, and she refused to do so. She wouldn't even muster a fake smile for her newfound friends and family. Delilah didn't want to pretend to have fun or enjoy something.

After being kicked out and almost committing a murder, she didn't deserve to smile. In fact, Delilah didn't even know if she remembered how to.

Closing her locker, she shook her head. Delilah didn't want to take any chance in smiling- she made a vow. But then again...

She sort of felt that she wanted to become closer to her friends.

_ Weak, weak! Delilah, you're being weak!_ Delilah had thought to herself, angry. She survived fine without Tinka complaining to her, and Rocky and CeCe doing commentary on every single thing she did!

But what about Gunther?

Remembering how he had to _comfort_ her as she _cried_, her fury turned into utter embarrassment. How could she, the one with heart made of stone, let that happen?

Damn it, damn it...!

As she turned towards the hallway, she realized no one was there. Was she late for class? Did her pondering lead her to this misfortune?

Delilah walked towards the office, her feet stomping against the tile floor and her face graced a scowl. She was a fool.

"Hello? I'm late for class," She said, to no one in particular. The secretary didn't come.

"Hello?" Still no answer.

"Strange..." She muttered to herself, already growing suspicious. If there was one thing she learned from being in the streets it was to always be on your guard.

That included defense against rapists, hobos, animals, food poisoning and gangs.

Slowly, Delilah made her way to the door and started to open it when all of a sudden, it swung open, and sucked Delilah inside._

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Delilah screamed, falling down a dark hole with lit candles embedded in the walls.

A small familiar tune played faintly, growing louder as she fell. _The melody her mother sung to her as a baby._ When Delilah came across the music box, the mirror inside flashed a bright light at her once and her appearance changed, transforming her normal outfit of a light colored shirt and jeans with sneakers to something similar to Alice's dress in the Disney movie, except she also had a leather corset wrapped around her waist and lace up boots, along wth her black hair that grew to her waist and the dress was a scarlet red.

"Wha-? What is this?" She gasped, at her new appearance. But her attention was quickly diverted as a piano flew past her, playing Soul's crazed melody.

Millions of glitter scattered through the air, and Delilah heard someone cackle in her ear before she crashed through a wall of glass and landed on a marble floor. "Ugh!" She gasped, absorbing the pain from her fall.

"What the hell..." Clutching her stomach, she stood up unaware of where she was. When her eyes finally focused, she looked up to find the cieling she crashed through...wasn't crashed through.

"Strange," She mumbled, walking down a hallway that seemed to grow smaller and smaller.

By the time she reached the end, she had to kneel to open the door.

Going through, she found a circular room with doors from granite to copper surrounding her. The knobs were made from various metals including gold, silver, copper, and iron. A dim light illuminated the room from the glowing crystals hanging from the ceiling, making everything seem all the more creepy to Delilah.

"I wonder which one's the way out," Delilah said to herself, and went to a shining gold door. _Locked._

Next, she tried the granite door. Same result.

_ Locked._

_ Locked. _

_ Locked. _

_ Locked._

_ Locked._

_ Locked._

After some time of trying to knock down the doors and kicking walls in frustration, Delilah leaned against a wall in defeat. "Great, now what?" She had closed her eyes for a moment of rest, and when she opened them again, she found a small door across the room. "Huh...?"

Laying down on her stomach, she inspected the door. It was wooden, with a plastic doorknob. Jiggling the doorknob, she found it too, was locked. However when she tried kicking it in, it remained intact and actually made her foot hurt twice the pain than when she kicked the others.

"Where's the key?" She looked around the floor, searching for one when she bumped her head. "Ow! What?" Looking up, she found a glass table. "This wasn't here before..."

Standing up, she looked down on the glass to see a small key and a crystal vial with a carved heart shaped stopper. "Odd," Looking at the liquid, she almost froze.

_ Blood?_

Looking closer at the vial, the words _Drink Me_ were engraved in the crystal. "Drink me, huh...?"

Opening the vial, the scent of tropical fruit filled the air. "I guess it's not blood after all," Raising it to her stained red lips, she sipped the blood-like liquid.

_ Mangoes._

The sweet and tart taste filled her mouth, and she fought back a contented sigh as she pulled the vial from her lips. Suddenly, she felt her dress was becoming looser and looser on her.

"What the-?" Slowly, Delilah was engulfed in the folds of her dress, and she climbed out of the fabric to see she was changed into another dress- a ruffled scarlet dress with a white ribbon around her waist, and gold sandals. "Stranger and stranger..."

Looking back at the now suitably sized door, she facepalmed herself. "Ugh, the key was up there damn it!" Looking back up at the table, she tried climbing the feet of it only to fall back down. "There has to be some way to get back up there..."

Delilah scanned the floor, searching for a ladder or a rope to help her up when something red caught her eye.

A basket full of red velvet cupcakes.

The cupcakes were small enough for a person to take one bite and finish it. The words _Eat Me_ were written in cream cheese at the top of each one. Delilah looked back up at the huge bottle that loomed over her. "If that one makes me smaller..." She took a cupcake from the basket, the smell already making her tastebuds water. "This one should make me bigger."

Shoving the cupcake in her mouth, she swallowed it with ease. Her stomach begged her for one more cupcake, but as she was about to reach for another, she felt her dress get tighter and the shoes started pinching her feet until they at last had broke, and the dress ripped around several edges. At this point, Delilah's poor head touched the ceiling of the room.

Confused Delilah almost started to cry out of hopelessness, but she shook her head before she was able to do so. "No! I just have to get the right amount of each," Bending over, Delilah took the small bottle in her hands and the key. Taking less than a gulp, she returned the bottle to the table and immediately she had begun to shrink.

When she was done shrinking, she wore the original dress that appeared on her, and the door was just perfect for her to fit in. Key in hand, she inserted the key into the lock and turned...

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! :) I had to get ready for school. Anyways, I know you can tell this will not be a normal chapter nor will the other couple that will follow this one. I got this idea obviously from Alice in Wonderland, and I thought the role would fit perfectly for Delilah and that she would learn a lot from the experience. Maybe it might shed some more light on her past or might change her mind about some people? Who knows, I'm improvising as I go. :3 I assure you, I read back and try to make things better. **

**Now you're probably confused as to WHY this is happening to Delilah and HOW. Most of all, this was supposed to be a Gunther Hessenheffer story. It IS, and he's going to come up at some point. **

**Once again, I just don't know exactly when. :3 **

**I hope you enjoy this story and I also hope that you will take the time to read my other stories! :D**

**Just not the old ones though. Those were my earlier works, and I made some major errors in there. :/ If you DO want to read them however, be my guest. XD**

**Bye! :) **

**BTW, thanks to all the people who responded so well to the first four chapters of Feeling. I will not let you guys down!**

**But if you like, please give me feedback and maybe ideas for what to do next. :D I'm open minded here!**


	6. AN: Updates and Other Questions

**Author's Note**

Alright, I know what you're thinking.

"What's the hold up, damn it?"

^_^" Sorry. I'm sort of busy with school. First year as freshman, you know. This stuff drags you down.

However, today I decided to answer some questions about the story instead of doing my actual homework. -_- Yep, I'm suffering because of you. It's worth it, though! :D

** First Question: **_When will you be updating? Jeez, it's been more than a friggin month! Get off your lazy butt and write!_

** Answer: **I will get up my lazy butt and update when I feel like it, psycho. -_- Which is probably sometime this weekend. And I know it's been more than a month; I'm working on it! X(

** Second Question: **Have you even BEEN working on the next chapter? Or are you too busy procrastinating?

** Answer: **Yes, I have been busy procrastinating. The movies _Revenge of the Bridesmaids_ and _Cyberbully_? Good movies, I recommend them. But I have been working on the character placement. You guys will NEVER guess who the Caterpillar is. XD

** Third Question: **What is up with this Alice in Wonderland thing? I read so I can fall in love with the Gunther and Delilah pairing, not so I can read yet another story about a stupid girl falling down a rabbit hole and stalking a talking white rabbit!

** Answer: **Once again, I decided to make it Alice in Wonderland because the story so far is very similar to Alice in Wonderland. Delilah is of course Alice, who falls into a world that she is unfamiliar with. You'll catch on as you read along.

** Fourth Question: **Delilah smiled during the Music chapter, so why is she scared of smiling now? IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!

** Answer: **Yes, she did smile. I meant in front of people. She's going to her breaking point in which she may actually curl her lips in a joyful manner in front of her peers. For her, that's the end of the world. She doesn't want to smile, nor does she feel like she can. The smile that was in the music chapter was her real feelings about the whole thing, but Delilah wants to keep a barrier up and hide her true self. In a way, it relates to a lot of people that way. Like me. :(

** Fifth Question:** When will this story end? I like it, don't get me wrong but when will the whole thing end?

** Answer: **I really don't know, but I do know how it's going to end. (Note: The ending may change at any point in my head.) I'm not sure if you guys would like my current ending scene, since it's really depressing. But once again, who knows. I may change my mind.

** Sixth Question: **Is there going to be a sequel?

** Answer: **I'm kind of iffy on that topic as of now. I'm not sure after the current ending that there can BE a sequel, but if there are enough positive comments I may make another. :)

As for any other questions, you can always contact me in a review or a message. Seriously people, I'm not trying to promote people reviewing on my page or sending me messages, I'm just looking for feedback. It takes less than five minutes! I'm really begging for your comments, positive or negative. I wish to improve on my writing, and make the story as amazing as it can be. :D

Oh, and for all the people who also read my Ciel and Alois one shots? Yes, I will be working on another one shot. It will be linked to the others- actually, all of them will be linked in some way, so be sure to check out the other one shots if you haven't already. :) You might miss some crucial parts.


	7. Alice II

Alice II

After opening the door, Delilah was astounded by the absolute...

Horror she saw.

From left to right, everything was either in chaos or in ruin. Bombed down buildings scattered the once beautiful terrain, and flowers that once bloomed from the ground had withered and died. Tree stumps randomly spotted the land, and were used for tables where creatures that Delilah were unfamiliar of waited for their next meal which looked like gravy. From a distance, she could see a small fish with angelic iron wings for a tail swim slightly in a small, chipped glass bowl, looking lost and heartbroken. Coming up to the poor creature, she asked the angelfish as to what was wrong.

"I can't find my mother! Can you help me find my mother?" The angelfish gurgled, and looked around frantically. When Delilah scanned the rest of the newfound world, she realized that a lot of small creatures were searching for something or someone.

Delilah, despite knowing anything about the place or it's inhabitants, felt a raging fury in her ice cold heart. "I will help you find your mother. And I'll help them too. But I need some information. What happened here?" Delilah asked, as the angelfish acquired a hopeful glint in her eyes.

"Really? Thank you so much, miss!" The angelfish jumped out of the water once, and looked at Delilah with a smile. "I'm Angela. The story isn't very happy, but it it'll help me find my mom then I'm more then happy to tell you!"

_ The angelfish was swimming in the sea with her mother, as her mom told her many stories about the waters which was their home._

_ "The sea works in mysterious ways, my child. Once, I was lost. After a while of searching for my coral reef home, I got hungry but there was no algae to be found. I thought I was going to die._

_ "But then I met your father. He was looking around for sharks since he was a guard fish. And oh, his iron scales shined in the water, and he came to me like a knight. Telling me the right direction on where our civilization was, he escorted me there himself, giving me compliments on my white feather tail. We had so much in common- the same type of bubble music, same morals in our lives, even our opinion of humans which were so different from everyone elses! Because of that, not only did I find my home but I also found the love of my life."_

_ "Mommy? Do you think the sea will help me find the love of MY life one day?"_

_ The pristine white angel fish giggled with a gurgle. "You're very young to think about that kind of love, Angela. But know that whenever you're lost, a knight will come. It may come in a mysterious way, like you may not recognize it at first."_

_ The small fish pouted. "That's so confusing, Mommy! It's weird."_

_ The mother giggled again, leading the way back to their coral reef home where her husband awaited with a terrified look on his face._

_ "Oriel, Angela, you two must hurry! The Spades are coming! The Spades are coming!" The guard fish yelled, as he took Angela in one fin and Oriel the other and swam frantically from the reef._

_ "What? They signed a treaty with the Cificap Sea!" Oriel gasped. "Elek, where are we going then?"_

_ "There's a safe reef that blends with the sand. We'll go there and wait until this blows over. Afterwards, we'll go to the Hearts," he then mumbled under his breath. "Please let the Queen be in a good mood for us to stay."_

_ After swimming at top speed for so long, Elek was getting tired. "Ugh..."_

_ Oriel swam out of his grasp to get in front of him. "We have to take a break. Elek, you're going to pass out like this."_

_ Elek huffed, trying to take the water in his gills. "N-no, I h-have t-to p-protect you b-both..." _

_** "Look, over there! Runaways!"**__ The family heard, and Elek turned to see Spade swordfish rushing towards them. _

_ "Oriel! Angela! Swim!" Elek yelled, his head hanging low._

_ Oriel shook her head in defiance. "No! Elek, I won't leave you!"_

_ "GO, __**NOW!**__" Elek yelled back at her, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his spine. A swordfish had jabbed it's nose into his stomach, and his eyes looked at Oriel for the last time. "I love you..."_

_ His body floated up to the surface as Oriel screamed and swam for her life with a scarred Angela in her fins. _

_ The swordfish, clouded in the blood filled waters didn't see them run away._

_ After swimming for some time, Oriel decided to take a break. "Angela, are you alright?"_

_ Angela shook in her fins, her eyes still filled with tears. "Mom, where's Dad?"_

_ Oriel closed her eyes, and tried to blink back her own tears to no avail. "Dad's in...a better place. He's where there are no sharks or swordfish, and there's algae everywhere. The reefs are...beautiful, and everyone's happy."_

_ Angela looked down. "I want Dad here. I want Dad to protect us here."_

_ Oriel sighed. "Me too, honey. More than you know."_

_ After their break, they continued on until they found the safe reef. "There it is! Angela, c'mon. That's the safe reef your father told us about!"_

_ The two fish were swimming towards their hope for survival when all of a sudden, a dye of red water came. Oriel looked behind to see the Spade swordfish again, with her husband's blood tinging the leader's scales._

_** "There they are! After them!"**_

_ Oriel looked around for something to distract the swordfish while Angela and herself would escape inside the reef. But with a horror, all she saw was a sharp edge in the sand. _

_ Seaglass._

_ Knowing what she must do, Oriel swam towards the glass with great speed and cut through her side with a painful scream._

_ Staining the water with her blood and clouding Angela and the swordfish's vision, Oriel swam with difficulty around the group of swordfish._

_ "Momma? Momma!" Angela yelled, looking for her mother. A figure Angela couldn't see rammed her into the reef, and Angela hid in there, peeking to find her mother. When the blood cleared, Angela saw that the swordfish swam away._

_ Not one trace of the murky scarlet was found. _

"And after they left, I made my way here to the Kingdom of Hearts. Those people who're serving the Yvarg put me in here and told me to wait until they finished serving the food. They told me that I would be living in an orphanage, but I don't know what that is."

Delilah clenched her fists. "These Spades...tell me, Angela. Which is the way to the Hearts Castle? That _is_ where the Queen your dad talked about lives, right?"

Angela nodded. "Yeah. The Queen lives north from here, or that's what I've heard," Angela looked up at Delilah with hopeful eyes. "Thank you so much for helping me find my mother."

Delilah didn't have much faith in herself to find Angela's mother. For all she knew, her mother was dead. But she had to try, for it was the least she could do for Angela. "You're welcome. You're lucky to have parents who cared for you so much, so I don't want you to lose one of them again."

Looking ahead from the assumed camp, she walked with a stride to the Hearts Castle where hopefully she could find out how to help out her new friend and the others.

Walking for what she assumed were hours, the terrain turned from ruins to a tropical forest. "Weird," She mumbled, stumbling around the trees. Finding herself intimidated by the strange surrounding, she calmed herself. "There's no one here, Delilah. Just keep on going ahead."

"Ahead? To where?"

On edge, Delilah raised her head up and clenched her firsts, ready for a fight. "Who's there?"

"Are you blind? I'm up here!" Looking up, Delilah saw a man with short dark brown hair and a light tan wearing a...blue and green sparkly leotard.

"Don't mistake me for actually caring, but why are you wearing...?" Delilah raised an eyebrow at the strange man who reminded her of someone she knew.

"Don't blame me- I'm a host on a TV show and this is going with the theme. I'm supposed to be a caterpillar, but I refused to wear the sleeping bag around my legs that would hinder my mobility," He sighed, and lit a cigarette. "Want one?"

Delilah shook her head. "I don't smoke. Wait..." Taking a closer look at the man, she realized who he was. "Gary? From Shake It Up Chicago?"

Gary shook his head. "I'm the host of Shake It Up, but not this Chicago place you're speaking of. It's Wonderland."

"Wonderland? So that's what this place is called?" Delilah asked.

"You ask too many questions. Where are you headed anyways?" He asked Delilah.

"I'm heading for the Heart Castle. I need to talk with the Queen there."

At this, Gary coughed on his cigarette smoke. "What? Why would you want to talk to HER of all people? She's rude and stuck up!" Then Gary suddenly got quiet. "Don't tell her I said that. Please."

Delilah raised her hands. "I won't, trust me. And I need to talk to her about what's been happening in Wonderland. Can you tell me where I need to go, other than that it's North?"

Gary took a drag from his cigarette and blew in the north direction. "There. Follow the smoke and it should lead you to the Mad Hatter. He'll help you from there. Oh by the way, have you considered television? You have a lovely face."

Ignoring his comment, Delilah followed the smoke. "No thanks, that's Gunther's forte."

Gary froze in wonder. "...Gunther? That weirdo?"

After following the smoke, Delilah found herself at a table with many chairs and red cups filled with different kinds of soda. Paired with those were bowls of chips with any brand you could imagine. Seated at the table were three people she knew well. "Tyler, Martin, Flynn. What are you guys doing here? And why is Martin and Flynn wearing hare and mouse ears?"

Ty adjusted his hat, and straightened his tie. "I'm sorry, girl. We don't know who you are," He smiled, and got out of his seat. "But we'd like to," He took Delilah's hand and kissed it. "How do you know our names though?"

Disgusted, Delilah pulled her hand away. "What do you mean, you don't know me? I live with Cecilia and Flynn. You and Martin come over all the time."

Deuce raised an eyebrow, and two hare ears perked up. This freaked Delilah out to no end, but considering as to talking to a fish and ending up in a strange world, it didn't affect her too much.

"Flynn, do you know her? And how does she know about the fact that you used to live with Queen CeCe?" He popped a chip in his mouth as Delilah's eyes twitched.

"The queen is Cecelia? How did that happen?" Delilah scratched her head.

"Too many questions!" Flynn yelled suddenly, looking at Delilah with childish eyes. "You, sit down and take a soda."

Sighing and knowing how Flynn could get when he got angry, she didn't bother putting up and arguement and sat down. "I need to get to Queen Cecelia then. This thing that's happening with the Spade's is wrong, and I want to help."

Martin scoffed. "Yeah, you and everyone else. But everyone's too scared to actually do anything about it. What makes you think that YOU can make a difference?"

Tyler nodded, sitting down. "He makes a point. Why should we tell you where the Hearts Castle is when it probably won't do us any good?"

"What would you do to help? And how?" Flynn asked, seeming to taunt Delilah.

"What?"

"Why?"

"How?"

"What?"

"Why?

"How?"

Delilah stood up, fed up with all of the taunts. "It's simple! I'll give it my all- when you do something and make it your best, it's a guarantee that you'll get something out of it!" Delilah's surge of determination came down in a fist to the table, which rattled all of the chips and spilled the drinks. "No one can tell me that I can't do something! No one can hold me down- I'll find a way."

She left the table, and was going to leave. _Damn, they didn't help at all. Those idiots._

Suddenly, someone from behind threw a cup of brightly colored soda in front of Delilah. The liquid trailed down, forming a path. "Follow that. It'll lead you to the Hearts Castle," Delilah looked from behind to see a smiling Deuce, sending her a salute. Ty and Flynn followed after, wishing her good luck.

Delilah nodded, and ran to where the liquid headed.

"Delilah...she's an amazing person, isn't she?" Deuce sighed, looking at the back of the running girl.

"Deuce, you think that she's the..." Ty's voice trailed off as Flynn smiled with a knowing nod.

"She's the one. I know it," Flynn stood up, and reached into a bowl of chips and took out a small daggar. "That means we have work to do."

After following the liquid, it split up into two sections, one leading to the right and the other to the left. "Damn it! Now where do I go?" Delilah cursed. The area around her was now a forest, and the moon shone through the trees.

"Go to the left!" She heard. Delilah looked to the left to see Tinka in all her glory, wearing a bright red dress with a black furry shawl and black heels. Her hair was in her usual up style, and she had a brilliant smile.

Delilah almost questioned her as to what she was doing in Wonderland, but after meeting Deuce, Flynn, Ty and Gary, it wasn't that abnormal to see yet another person she knew.

"Do not listen to her! Go to the right!" Delilah turned to see Tinka again, wearing a blue dress with a white furry shawl and white heels. Like the other Tinka, she had her hair up; but she had a serious face.

"Na, don't interfere, K?" The Tinka on the left gave a sarcastic smile, and went into a stance with her hand on her hips.

"Ti, you are leading this girl to the wrong direction," Na looked to my direction, and raised an eyebrow. "Take this way. Ti is just trying to confuse you."

"I am not trying to confuse her! You are just trying to lead her to the DoDo bird, K?"

"No I am not! Stop lying, and wipe that smile off your face, K?"

"I can't help BUT smile, you KNOW that, K?"

"Oh yeah, it is because you are a _BUSHKA, K?_!"

"You take that back, _PWONKAH, K?_!"

The two started arguing in a foreign language Delilah didn't understand, and she felt her head throbbing. "SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!"

The two looked at Delilah, frightened by her sudden burst of anger. "Both of you are confusing me! I'm looking for the Hearts Castle- do you two even know where that is?"

They looked at each other and scratched the back of their heads. "We are sorry," they said in unison, and looked away from Delilah's frustrated gaze.

"We do not know where the Hearts Castle is," Ti said, sympathetic.

"But we could tell you who does. He can lead you there himself," Na stated.

Delilah sighed. "Finally! Someone who can actually take me there! Who is that?"

"That would be me," Delilah heard from above.

A boy jumped down from a large tree behind her with grace. He had blond hair with a purple streak running up his bangs that were fluffed up to reveal his flawless complexion and bright blue eyes. On top of his head, a pair of purple cat ears moved ever so slightly and a tail swerved from left to right from his back. He wore a black leather jacket with a purple sequin shirt underneath and black skinny jeans with sequin purple converses. Around his neck, he had a gold chain with a charm that had the name _Cheshire_. The boy took Delilah's hand and kissed it.

"Gunther?"

**Author's Note:**

**Yep, sorry that it came a day late! I have to keep up my A's and B's in school, and I'm busy with other stuff. But I want to continue this story and finish it at some point. Maybe update on my other one shots as well? :) **

**Oh yes, Gunther came sooner than expected. And yes, he's the Cheshire Cat. You didn't see that one coming, did you?**

**I mean, you would think that Gunther and Tinka would be Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. _ I just thought that having Gunther as the Cheshire cat would enable him to be a bit more romantic with Delilah's character. **

**By the way, did you get the thing that was happening with the two Tinka's? One was named Ti, and the other was named Na...they kept on saying "K" when they argued with each other. If you don't get it...**

**T + I + N + K + A = Tinka. **

**I had to scramble some letters, but I liked how it turned out in the end. Rocky, CeCe, and some other characters are coming, and Delilah will actually play a very important part in this upcoming war. :) Should be interesting. **

**Stay tuned, and remember to review! :D I really want your feedback, guys! It would be great to improve on my work, and maybe some help on the storyline?**


	8. AN: Yet Another

Yet Another Author's Note…Damn It.

So apparently, I am missing my chapter of Alice III. I already did Alice IX and X so this is a huge setback. I am currently rewriting Alice III, much to my dismay. Once again, I sincerely apologize for my lack of progress on Feeling, and I do understand that I have ACTUAL READERS. Which makes me happy and more eager to write. I thank you so much for all of your support and I will do the best I can to captivate and satisfy your reading needs (and supposed drama lust).

And for your patience, I will upload Alice IX along with Alice III sometime soon. Maybe this weekend…

Once again, thank you my wonderful readers.

BTW if you're wondering what I was doing this entire time…

…

I was watching Hetalia.

HETALIAFOREVER

PASTAAAAHHHHHHHHH!


	9. Alice III

Alice III

"Gunther? My name is Cheshire," He bowed his head mockingly, yet had a threatening look in his eyes. "My birth name however was Gunther. How did you know that, little girl?" He stared into my eyes, as if he was willing me to speak.

Or hypnotize me. Those eyes of his always captivated me…

Wait, what?

I backed away, an equally menacing glare in my own features. "You remind me of a friend of mine. But I can see clearly now that the two of you are completely different."

He laughed. "Is that so? Then what makes us alike?"

"The hair, the clothes, the face, even the damn accent. It all points to him," I shook my head. "But his personality isn't as strange or as menacing as yours. He's too good for that- too weak."

"Good is not necessarily weak, foreigner," He smirked, and backed me up to a tree. Cheshire took my hand in his, and gave it a kiss. "Ah, hands so rough and overworked. Yet the bones feel fragile, easily breakable," He gave it a tight squeeze to prove his point, as I struggled to hide my pain. "Ah, such delicacy…"

"My name is Delilah," I yanked my hand away from his, obviously not liking the way this strange person was acting towards me. "I fit my name. But more to the point, can you take me to the Hearts' Castle?"

He shrugged, animatedly putting hands up. "I do not know, sweet Delilah. I act upon transactions."

I rolled my eyes. "Meaning I have to pay you in order to help others? Well, it isn't any different in my world," I tucked my bruised hand in my pocket, his kiss still seeming to burn through my skin. "What do you want?"

He smiled, showing a pair of slight fangs in his teeth. "I just want to know more about this other world of yours. Specifically, this man named Gunther who supposedly has a handsome physique."

"So, tell me more about this Gunther character. How do I resemble him?" Cheshire asked as he soared through the air with Delilah on his back.

"There are a lot of similarities. Both of you guys wear sequins, and you two have amazingly eccentric personalities, although the two are different kinds. Minus the ears and tail, and the fact that the streak in his hair is blue, you two could very well be twins," Delilah explained as the wind cut through her long hair.

Cheshire turned his head to look at Delilah, still in the air. "Twins? Like brothers? Or two halves of one person?"

Nodding her head, they descended on a tree so Cheshire could take a break. "I guess so."

"How did you meet him, anyways?" Cheshire asked, taking a swig out of the tree that supposedly had water sap.

Delilah looked at the tinted red moon, and thought for a second that the crescent was bleeding. "It was in kindergarten- Gunther's first year in America."

_"Hello! I am Gunther!"_

_"And I am Tinka!"_

_"And we are the Hessenheffers!"_

_The two toddlers made their entrance with flare, only to be met with laughing and jeering by the students. _

_"Now, quiet down students- these two are new to America, so please be nice!" The teacher explained, trying to calm the children. After ushering the two to their seats, she looked at the remaining girl who was next to the door, out of place and nervous. "Delilah, please introduce yourself."_

_Taking small steps to the center of the front of the room, Delilah took in large gulps of breath and quietly whispered. "I'm Delilah. It's nice to meet you all."_

_The shaking and small built toddler had appealed to the students, as she was put in comparison to a doll the girls had only seen in the shelves of stores. _

_"She's so adorable!"_

_"Delilah's like a dolly!"_

_But to the boys, it had the opposite effect. _

_"She looks so weak!"_

_"Look at her shake!"_

_"She moves funny!"_

_Silencing the students again, the teacher guided the young Delilah to her seat next to the small CeCe and Rocky. _

_"Your name is Delilah, right?" CeCe asked, combing her Barbie's hair. _

_Delilah slowly nodded her head, and got herself ready for her first conversation. "Yes. And your name is Cecelia, right?"_

_"I like the name CeCe more," CeCe stated, putting the Barbie in some sparkly clothes. "You should change your name too. It'll be cuter."_

_"My mother calls me Lilah, but I don't really like it. I like my full name better," Delilah explained. "I think Cecelia is a better name for you as well. It sounds lovely."_

_Not knowing how to respond, CeCe hid a smile and looked away with a "hmph" under her breath. _

_Rocky rolled her eyes and put a hand on Delilah's shoulder. "Sorry about CeCe. She's my friend, and has been ever since last year," Rocky smiled at Delilah, trying to gain her trust. "I'm Rocky. I like my name Roquelle, but it's easier to say Rocky instead of my real name."_

_Delilah smiled back at Rocky. "You wouldn't mind then, if you like your real name, that I would call you Roquelle then?"_

_Rocky nodded. "You can call me Roquelle if you want!" _

_After making friends with the two girls, the class resumed their lesson, oblivious to the terrible plans that were being made at the back of the room._

_During recess, Gunther and Tinka looked around at the playground, looking for something to do when all of a sudden, a young Frankie and his friends had come up to the Hessenheffers. "Hey guys! Would you like to play tag with us?"_

_Excited by the idea of a new American game, Gunther and Tinka were happy to oblige. _

_"Alright, this is how you play. I'll be it, and you guys have to run away from me. If I touch you, you're out," Frankie explained, his face bearing a mischievous smirk. _

_Gunther and Tinka nodded, getting the gist of what to do. "Okay!"_

_"Ready? Go!" Frankie yelled, and Gunther and Tinka split up._

_When Gunther and Tinka ran, the plan was set into action. _

_Tinka ran behind some trees where she was sure that she would be out of Frankie's sight. "He will never find me here!" _

_"You so sure about that?" She heard. _

_Surprised, she looked up to see two of Frankie's friends in the trees that jumped down and landed on Tinka. _

_"Ahh! Get away from me!" Tinka yelled, as the boys pinned her down and held up a rope. Tying the poor, confused girl, they fastened her to the tree and laughed at their handiwork. _

_"Hahahah! You're off lucky; your brother Gunther is gonna die!" The two yelled at the crying toddler, who feared for her brother's safety. _

_"Hey! What do you think you two are doing?" They heard. _

_Gulping, the two boys ran in fear as CeCe, Delilah and Rocky came to Tinka's rescue and untied her. _

_"Wait! M-my brother G-Gunther! He is in t-t-trouble!" Tinka yelled with tears in her eyes as CeCe and Rocky tried desperately to understand what Tinka was saying through her choked up words. _

_An innocent Delilah however, had understood well as she saw a glimpse of Gunther running from Frankie at the other side of the playground._

_Gunther wasn't much better off as he ran away from Frankie. Frankie caught up to the young Gunther in a flash, and pinned him to the ground. "Alright! You touched me! Now can you get off?"_

_Frankie's eyes slanted and his smirk grew. "I don't think that's happening, goat boy."_

_Three of Frankie's friends had appeared behind the various playground equipment, and each wore their own face of evil against the struggling foreigner. "Take your turns, boys."_

_Gunther's torture had begun as a boy started kicking Gunther in the stomach and another pulled Gunther up by his hair while another took a swing at his face. Frankie had taken Gunther's leg in the process, and started punching it. Each blow brought more tears to the young Gunther's face, as he tried with all of his might to get air into his lungs and call for help. _

_"S-someone..." Gunther choked out, not able to say any other word for his throat was clogged by his tears. _

_Frankie's face filled with satisfaction as Gunther fell to the grass, in a mangled heap._

_But his facial expression changed when a flash of dark hair had rammed into one of his friends, and a fist had collided with another's rib cage. Looking at the figure harder, his face was filled with surprise as Delilah got back on her feet and kicked Frankie's last friend in the face, causing a nosebleed. _

_"What the- when did you get so crazy? I thought you were-!" Frankie exclaimed, now harboring fear. _

_His response was a face plant into the ground as Delilah grabbed his head and rammed it to the floor. _

_Staggering up, Frankie held his bleeding face in his hand. "I'm telling the teacher!" Running, his friends followed screaming for their mothers. _

_Looking towards Gunther with a murderous glint in her eyes, Gunther tried crawling away when he found out that one of his bones were broken in his leg. Like a scared animal, Gunther gave Delilah a look that begged for mercy._

_But he didn't need to beg, for Delilah's killer state had faded away. "Are you okay?"_

_Touched, Gunther had struggled with his non-injured leg and tried to hoist himself up. "I will be alright."_

_Delilah held out a hand. "Let me help you."_

_Gunther nodded with a half-smile. "Thank you," He took Delilah's hand and the two made their way to the teachers whose disapproving gaze switched to a concerned look as they noticed Gunther's injuries. _

"And that's how the two of us met. It wasn't really the best way to meet someone, but I'm glad that I did," Delilah explained to Cheshire, who attentively listened to the story.

Cheshire's eyes softened, and his lips curved into a smile. "You must think fondly of him to remember all of that."

Delilah looked away, embarrassed. "I guess I do. He is of course, the first close friend I ever made."

"But what do you think of him?" Cheshire's tone of voice became very serious, like his entire existence depended on her answer.

Thinking about it for a minute, Delilah answered. "I...I don't know for sure. The feeling is very foreign to me."

Unhappy with her answer yet satisfied, Cheshire stood up from his branch. "Thanks for telling me. In return, the Hearts Castle waits," He moved a tree branch to reveal a view of a red castle with statues of hearts in the towers, bathed in red moonlight.


	10. Alice IX

Alice IX

As Cheshire and I neared the castle, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of person he really was. Even though he looked so much like Gunther, not only did he lack an accent he was more toned down. It was almost as if he was a normal person, despite the ears and tail. From what I heard, wasn't people or creatures of this place supposed to be eccentric in a way? Angela was a talking angel-fish and Flynn, Martin and Tyler were not their normal selves…

A thought came to me in a rush, and I stopped walking.

"Delilah? What is the matter?"

How did all of these people resemble the people I knew from Chicago and why? How can this place possibly exist if no one had discovered it and bothered to put it on a map of the Earth?

Was all of this a dream? Did I simply need to wake up and everything would be okay?

"Delilah, you are starting to worry me. Please answer me!"

Pinching should do the job just fine. I could wake up and all of this would be a dream.

"Delilah!"

I raised my hand and was about to pinch myself when I froze. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I had this tugging feeling in my chest that I didn't want to wake up.

Why was that?

Cheshire shook me, panic in his eyes. "Delilah? What is going on with you?"

Yes, that's right. Cheshire was scared. But why was he so frightened?

"Please, answer me!"

Did he care about me?

"Delilah!"

Why would he care about a stranger like me?

_Oh. It's because we're friends now. _

Thinking about Angela and how she wanted to find her mother again, and all of those other citizens I realized how I could relate to them. They had no one to turn to but each other, like a family. And Angela had turned to me in her time of need.

I lowered my hand.

Cheshire was helping me, and somehow I knew that it wasn't just because he wanted to know about Gunther. It was because he was one of the many who needed help in Wonderland.

And he also turned to me as well.

"Friends help each other out," I stated, my voice a whisper.

Cheshire gave me a confused look. "Huh? Where did that come from?"

I backed away from his grasp and walked forward. "Let's continue on, Cheshire."

Still bewildered and skeptical about my interesting statement, he followed me to the castle.

From the first step I took after that, I made a promise to myself that despite this being a dream I would help these people with whatever means necessary. Dream or reality, I had to do this for them.

For my heart was frozen, and I will not let theirs stop as well.

"We're here!" Cheshire announced, the sand crumbling underneath his feet.

I looked at the grotesque display of floating heads in the water surrounding the castle. "What…happened?"

Cheshire smirked, his eyes slanting and looking devious. "The Queen of Hearts can get very violent when she is provoked or irritated in the slightest. Why, she almost chopped my head off when I broke up with her in Roinuj High."

"You used to date the Queen of Hearts?"

"It was a strange time, Roinuj High School. A very strange time indeed," Cheshire's eyes turned glassy as he wiped a tear away. "Well, shall we go on?"

I looked at him strangely for a few moments before I nodded.

Remembering that the Queen of Hearts was supposed to be Cecelia, I shuddered. The thought of Gunther and Cecelia dating boggled my mind.

When we reached the castle gate, I was face to face with my adoptive mother.

"Trespassers! What is your business here?" The blonde woman yelled at us, her temper different from her earthly counterpart.

Then again, I was almost always in my room when she was home. Could it be that this was Georgia Jones' true nature?

"We have come to pay a visit to Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts," Cheshire announced, not fearing the angry woman as if he had dealt with one at a regular basis.

She raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you Cheshire Cat? Why, she used to date you in Roinuj High before she dumped you!"

I held back a smirk as Cheshire started to blush. "I recall that it was me who dumped her for chopping my cousin's head off."

She curled her lips in a teasing manner. "That's not what I heard."

Cheshire groaned, and started to lick his hands furiously in an attempt to evade the conversation.

I finally spoke. "We need to talk to Her Majesty for an important matter. Lives are being taken ruthlessly as we speak."

She rolled her eyes. "What's new? That's _been_ happening for as long as I can remember. Those damn Spades…"

I stood my ground. "All the more reason we need to talk to her. I came with Cheshire so I could stop all this chaos!"

"Hah! Chaos, you say? We call it madness here, and we've got plenty of it. I don't think sticking your nose into this business will help in any way whatsoever. What did you say your name was, girlie?"

I growled. "My name is Delilah. And if you say that this is great madness, then how would it hurt you if I tried to help?"

She growled back with a sneer. "Delilah- it means fragile, right? I'm not gonna waste my time helping a fragile little girl try and fail to save Wonderland. Go back home to your mother or whatever you come from."

I shook my head. "I don't have any- no one here does anymore."

Georgia rolled her eyes, but I could see a hint of sympathy in the way she was standing- she looked unsure, as if she could relate to my statement somehow.

"And the Queen of Hearts must be lucky, huh? Still having a mother and father to cherish- or does she not?"

She shook her head. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Leave at once!"

Bingo. "You're her mother, aren't you?" She froze, and dropped her sword.

"H-how did you…"

"And if you're her mother, then why aren't you part of the royal court? I mean, being a guard dog isn't really one of the most prestigious jobs in the castle, if I understand correctly."

"I…I have-"

"So I wonder what would happen if word got out that the Queen of Hearts' mother was working a job as a security guard. It probably wouldn't make a good impression, now would it?"

Georgia shook with fury for what seemed forever before she turned on her heel and motioned for us to follow her.

The walls of scarlet and gold were draped with blood red curtains. Our footsteps echoed throughout the halls of the Hearts Castle, as if we were the only ones inside the lonely halls.

Thinking about it, it almost reminded me of myself.

As we neared the royal room, Cheshire squeezed my hand. Confused, I turned to him only to receive a worried look. "Delilah, I must warn you. The Queen of Hearts is cruel and despite her name, it may seem that she doesn't have a heart. If you anger her, the penalty is death by beheading."

I smirked to hide my fear. "That makes two of us- I don't have a heart and I'll kill anyone who makes me angry."

Cheshire sighed, but I wasn't sure if it was of exasperation or of worry. Somehow, it almost sounded reminiscent.

The colossal burgundy doors towered over us, and the gold door handles reflected Georgia's scared face. "Your Majesty, I come with visitors."

There was a long pause before a resounding and bratty "Enter!" echoed through the doors.

The doors opened to reveal CeCe perched on a red velvet and gold throne, with her usual curly-perfect hair and flawless face. Oddly for a queen, she wore red and black striped thigh high socks with black converse, a black miniskirt with red ruffle detailing on the side, a sequin black tank top with a red, short-sleeve cardigan layer, black and red striped arm warmers, gold bangles, choker and earrings, and of course, a small crown that sat crookedly on the side of her head.

To her left, Rocky sat on a smaller step in a silver and white chair, without her usual smile. Her eyes however a strange red, reflected kindness and virtue. She wore a white, quilted cardigan over a grey ruffled blouse, bleached jeans, faux fur white boots, and a silver necklace around her neck with a single pink pearl as a charm. Along with her abnormally red eyes, Rocky had snow white rabbit ears and a pocketwatch wrapped around her wrist. "My Queen, we're going to be late for a meeting with the Duke of Clovers! It's a very important date!"

Queen CeCe whispered something to Rabbit Rocky before looking at us. "What do _you_ guys want? I'm busy here."

Georgia's voiced echoed through the throne room, seeming to resound through my mind. "I have an audience to present to you, my Queen. The girl claims that she wishes to help with the war we have with the Spades."

CeCe rolled her eyes. "Rubbish," She looked at me, smirking. "You foolish girl- what makes you think that you can make a difference in what's happening?"

"Here we go again with all of that talk of doubt!" I exclaimed. "No one here thinks that I could do anything!" Cheshire looked surprised at me, and genuinely scared for my sake.

Queen CeCe smirked. "That's because you can't, you idiot. This war is too much of a problem to have a little girl like you resolve it."

"You govern an entire country! And you're not even sixteen! Hell, you don't even have anyone to help you! Not even your own parents!" I argued, angry with her.

She froze. "How did you know that…?" After staring at me in bewilderment, she shook her head. "Leave my sight, you wretched girl."

Georgia quickly took my arm before I could run. "Let go of me!" I screamed.

"No way- it's the Queen of Heart's will," Georgia said before beginning to pull me out.

Cheshire nodded. "Delilah, I think it's for the best that we-"

_**"No!"**_ I yelled, all my fury pouring out of me. Furious, I tore Georgia's grasp from mine and faced CeCe once more. _"You listen to __**me**__, Cecelia! I'm __**sick**__ and __**tired**__ of being looked down upon! I've been through shit that you have never __**been**__ through with your pampered lifestyle! You may not have a father, but your __**damn**__ mother is there, and she cares for you enough to stick around!_

"_My mother and father __**hated**__ me all my life- you can't __**imagine**__ what I've been through because of that! So don't you tell me that I'm a __**fool**__, and I can't do anything; it's because even with my heavy baggage, I still have the __**courage**__ to pull through!"_

Suddenly, a blinding gold light glowed from my wrist. "What-?"

A burning hot pain seared through the light, and it felt as if it engulfed my entire being. I couldn't hear my own screams of pain through the fire.

When the pain disappeared, I collapsed to the ground on my knees and palms. My wrist still shook, and I looked to see something strange.

A tattoo of a black crescent moon dripping with red blood appeared, and CeCe jumped from her throne to inspect my wrist.

"Oh- oh my goodness…" She whispered, and grabbed my face to look directly into my eyes. "You…you're the one from the legend, aren't you?"

Cheshire stared at me in disbelief before smiling softly. "I had a feeling…"

Confusedly, I exclaimed, "What legend?"

"You foolish girl…" Georgia sighed. "The Blood Red Night."

**Author's Note:**

**Yeah, the Blood Red Night. Lame? Yes.**

**But I thought it to be sort of cool at the time. :P**

**Wow, I am a sad person.**

**Umm, you're probably confused at this point. You might be asking as to why am I doing an adventure/fantasy thing when this is supposed to be a romance story. **

**Don't get your panties in a twist (or boxer/briefs if you're a dude). Read the next chapter's author's note to find out why. As for the Blood Red Night thing, I sort of got the idea from Heart no Kuni no Alice (Alice in the Country of Hearts). In fact, this whole thing kind of grew from that. (Yes, I'm an anime/manga fan. Deal with it.) Hints from HnKnA? The Wonderland characters have weapons. Nuff said. **

***HNKNA is amazing. Read it! OR play the game! Or watch the movie!**

**Also, there's a character role thing. It's sort of hard to explain, but in relation to this story, each character of Shake It Up! has been given a role in Wonderland. So, Delilah has one as well. **

**Keep in mind that this story isn't actually based on the Alice in Wonderland story. It has multiple ideas from it, but the fact is that it doesn't really follow the whole plot.**

**Remember to review? :D**


	11. Alice X

Alice X

"The Blood Red Night?" I questioned, as CeCe helped me off the ground.

"Our savior, basically," Cheshire explained, his purple tail swishing back and forth.

"Savior…? I…" I knit my eyebrows together. "I only wanted to help- I didn't say anything about being the Messiah or whatever!" I yelled in protest.

"But you hold the mark. It can't be anyone but you," CeCe said, as if she was a prophet.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh yeah. Like a tattoo is going to predict my destiny."

"Actually it does," Rocky stated, no longer quiet. "The Mark chooses only one person. Due to your ferocity, courage and strength, it chose you."

I shook my head. "I was only angry!"

"It had done the job nevertheless. You are now the Blood Red Night, and now all of our Chess Pieces are in place," CeCe's voice echoed through my head, and I sighed.

"Well what is the Blood Red Night anyway?" I asked, staring at the dark tattoo that seemed to glare from my tan skin.

Cheshire took a step forward. "The Blood Red Night, as the prophecy goes, is a warrior of great strength and endurance.

_The war between the white and black_

_Shall rage on through the day;_

_When evil begins to triumph over good_

_The night shall emerge and taint the skies with blood,_

_Casting lunar rays_

_To combine the darkness and the light."_

After reciting, Cheshire heavily sighed and faced me. "'The war between the white and black' is the war of present. 'To rage on through the day; when evil triumphs over good' means that the Spades, as you know, are definitely winning. That's where you come in- 'the night shall emerge and taint the skies with blood, casting lunar rays to combine the darkness and the light.' You're destined to end the war, unfortunately with bloodshed to bring peace."

This was all too much. "I…"

Everyone looked at me expectantly, with eyes of determination and hope. "I need some time, okay?" Before I could see any of their faces fall, I ran out of the throne room and through the halls.

I had no idea where I was going- randomly, I ran left and right, until I arrived at a dead end, a mirror as the end wall. Only then did I see that I was trembling with fear, a sharp cold feeling aching through my bones.

Angry with the image of the weakened me, I ran towards the mirror without thinking- at the time, I guess I was hoping to break it, wanting to shatter that weak part of myself.

But the pain never came. I didn't hear glass break. Opening my eyes, I found that I was staring at myself. The weak me- I was crying on the floor, my hair a mess and shaking uncontrollably.

"**Leave me alone…just leave me alone…"** The other me whispered to herself, tears seeming to never end.

Not knowing what to do, I stood there watching myself cry. What was this? Why was this happening?

The tears down her face suddenly ran scarlet, and her sobbing turned into a maniacal laugh. Plastered on her face was a much too big smile, and she stared at me, her eyes tinted red.

"**I'm going crazy, aren't I? I'm going to die if I go through with this- this is just a dream, right? Then why am I doing this?"** She asked me, her voice slightly trembling.

"**RIGHT? WHY AM I DOING THIS? I DON'T CARE ABOUT THESE PEOPLE, NOT IN A DREAM OR IN REAL LIFE!"** She screamed, laughing.

All I could do was watch in horror as she fell into insanity and madness.

Or was it me that was plunging into madness?

And that proved to happen literally as the thought crossed my mind, when suddenly our black surroundings had started to coil themselves around our arms and legs. **"Yes…I'm going to die…we're all going to die at some point, right? I'm just speeding the process…no more pain…no more suffering…it would be better if we all died, right?" **

The darkness had crept its way to our faces, and her laughter seemed to echo through the blackened world, each series overlapping over the other, resounding and engulfing my ears until I spoke.

"That's not true," I said quietly, instantly silencing her insane laughing.

"**What? Of course it's true! If we all died, then there would be no more wars- no more pain! Wouldn't that be great?"** Her voice seemed eerily childlike, and she stared at me disbelieving.

I struggled to shake my head. "It's true that humans do make mistakes. They disagree and their separate opinions cause wars and suffering.

"Humans…are foolish. They can abuse power, and they're unpredictable and all around imperfect. But isn't that for the best?"

The other me looked at me as if I was the one who had gone crazy. **"I…I don't understand…"**

I became sympathetic. "You don't need to understand to know that it's for the best. If everyone was dead, of course there would be no more wars. But then, there wouldn't be any forgiveness. If there was no more hate, there would be no more love. That's how this world works.

People may disappoint, but they still have the power to make their problems right again. Sometimes, people don't take that opportunity, but that's still better than no one being able to right their wrongs."

Without me knowing, the darkness has uncoiled itself around me, and the other me sighed of relief. **"Oh…now I get it."**

She looked up at me with a confused look. **"You stood up for humans. I thought you hated them, considering the fact that you're so heartless."**

It was my turn to be surprised. "I did defend them, didn't I?" I felt a warmth in my chest that I didn't identify.

No…I could identify it. I felt it when I was around Gunther, oddly. "I guess I'm getting soft."

Her eyes released her glare, and her lips curled in an awkward smile. It was weird seeing me in such a foreign state. "Huh. Well, some other people need your softness outside of the mirror."

I opened my eyes, to see the chandelier lit ceiling of the hallway I was previously in. "What…?" I sat up to see the mirror, which didn't show any signs of being crashed into- just a bewildered me with slightly red cheeks. Cautiously, I touched it with my fingertips and memories of my encounter with myself had rushed through my mind. I stood up and brushed myself off, and made my way to the throne room.

I opened the large doors to see everyone who appeared to be conversing look at me with surprise.

"Have you made your decision, Delilah?" Queen CeCe asked me, wary.

I nodded. With new vigor and confidence in my voice I stated, "I accept the role as the Blood Red Night. When do we begin training?"

**Author's Note:**

**Yeah, it seems sort of lame at this point? This arc isn't meant to be focused on drama or romance, it's more focused on realizations and the development of the character Delilah. I don't mean to sound pushy, but if you don't read this arc carefully, then you probably wouldn't get as to why Delilah would have a newer, fresher personality. **

**This is like…an awakening. Some people have reviewed that they could relate to Delilah. That they could relate to the fact that she closed off everyone else in her life and was deemed heartless. This arc isn't meaningless at all- it's more of a step towards her recovery to becoming a human capable of love; this arc also gives a boost to Delilah's self-esteem. Some people may argue that Delilah was not portrayed as someone with low self-worth, but if they would read more carefully "between the lines" they would find out that there is much more to Delilah's character that meets the eye. **

**The reason why I wrote this story in the first place was to get a newer perspective on a romance between an original character and Gunther Hessenheffer. But I feel as if it has evolved into something more. **

**I do realize that there are actual people like Delilah in this world, or some people may be having problems (such as a broken home, low self-esteem, etc). I think that this story could become an answer to their problems. That after a person finishes reading a chapter, he/she can apply it to everyday life, and learn a moral or two. **

**The moral in this chapter is obvious- that humans may have their mistakes and they're all around imperfect. But a person can also forgive and start anew. This chapter can help a person forgive someone after an argument, or look past someone's mistakes or flaws and try to find the better.**

**But another moral that can be found is the fact that someone can look inside themselves and find that they're a completely different person that what they thought. Personally, I recently found out one of my personality traits when I was simply on a shopping trip during Black Friday. (BTW, how was yours? :D)**

**Some other chapters may have "hidden" meanings. A person would have to really read the chapter to get something out of it. And I'm not saying that there are set meanings to every chapter. People may get something different than others. **

**Anyways, I'm sorry for not updating consistently. I don't plan these things, I just DO them. To make up for it, as you probably know I had uploaded two chapters in one day. :D Yay!**

**So just for you to know, I'm not dead. And I won't be giving up on this story any time soon. :3**

**Make sure to review, so I can have more motivation? :3 And I would LOVE constructive criticism. It doesn't have to be on the writing itself, it can be comments on the characters or if something isn't made clear, or some ideas on how the storyline can go from here. **

**Have a great day.**

**-ShikionGirl**


	12. AN: Aww, Crap

Author's Note: Aww, Crap. (Errors and Contests? WAAAHH)

I just realized something terrible.

The chapter I just posted is in first person.

My story is in third person.

...

GGGGAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

I am freaking out, and I do NOT want to go back and rewrite the whole darn thing again!

But you know what? I decided to do something a little special.

Do you guys like the POV of Delilah? You know, just sometimes?

Like...in the perspective of her.

I somehow think that taking trips inside Delilah's mind can definitely help the reader connect with her better, and give a more vivid image as to who Delilah is as a person.

So please leave a review telling me if you'd like to keep the consistency of third person, or some special chapters being in Delilah's POV.

:)

I'd like to hear it.

Also, I'd like to do a little contest-y thingy.

Leave a review, telling me about your original character.

I'm planning to add another character into the story after the Alice arc, maybe someone who really gets under Delilah's nerves. I know that there are some "popular kids" in the actual show, but I really don't think that people like that would be considered as a rival to someone as cold and hardheaded as Delilah. And I know that Frankie is kind of like a rival, but Delilah actually sees him more as a nuisance, so...

Yeah. I need some major conflict. So please leave your original character's traits in this format:

Name:

Age:

Birthday:

Personality:

Biography:

Cultural Background:

Why this person rivals Delilah:

This person doesn't even need to be downright mean or stuck up. He or she could be the sweetest, most happy person alive (if that isn't already taken up by Gunther's outer personality). And what would be interesting is if he or she had a inner persona, like an alter ego (because even people in real life aren't what they seem).

And you know what? If you wanted, you could have this person rival Gunther. (Because Soul probably wouldn't be coming back... *read the end for one more contest thing about the character Soul!*)

However if you like Soul, tell meh! :DD I can work something out.

So...yeah.

Oh, wait!

HOLYWTFCRAPIT'SANOTHERCONTEST

Yes, one more contest.

About the Soul character from...what was it, chapter 2?

IDK, it's a chapter with the title, "Music."

Anyways, here is the challenge.

Where did I get the Soul character from?

OMG, yes. It is not an original character. I got it from somewhere.

Your clue? Well reread the Music chapter. It'll tell you all about his personality.

Search it up on G o o g l e . G o o g l e has all the answers.

So, yeah. :D

GGO NOWWW! NUUUUUUUU!

X'D I'm such a sad person.

And if you read this far, you get another clue. :)

His name is part of an anime he's in.

An anime is a japanese cartoon. :) I like anime. So much.

And when So Random! did something that completely disgraced the anime name (they parodied Naruto and Dragonball Z), I almost died. -_-"


	13. AN: Alice XI Preview and Details

AN: Sneak Preview of Alice XI and Other Details

Wow, two author notes in a row.

I must be a bad author for doing this to you guys. 0_0

The reason why I take so long to upload my chapters is because I actually have a life, believe it or not, outside Fanfiction.

But you know what? I think I'm going to be nice for once.

Instead of having you all wait in _agony_ for the next chapter, I think I'll tickle your reading buds with a little preview into what horrors will unfold in the next chapter for Delilah.

And I know what you're thinking:

"Horrors? Like, SCARY? The story isn't even scary so far, what does this lowlife ShikionGirl know about horror?"

Well, rude reader who made that somewhat mean review about me being a lowlife, have YOU ever had to deal with a crazy half animal people, an irritable queen, and becoming the freaking savior of a world you never knew?

Well, rude reader, you might have.

It's not a good experience.

On with the preview!

_Delilah moved quick, heading towards Cheshire with astounding speed. With a tough fist, she tried to dig it into his jaw, only to have him dodge it in a blur, and swerve his feet into a kick in her shins._

_ Seeing his actions, she back flipped and got back into her stance of one of her fists protecting her face, the other her stomach. With a growl, she pulled out one of the practice swords given to her out of its sheath, its wooden blade still sharp and lethal. Cheshire mirrored her action, but also pulled out a gun loaded with hard, plastic bullets with his free hand._

_ One after the other, BB bullets sped their way to Delilah only for her to block each one with her sword as she charged, whirling and spinning it in a mesmerizing fashion. When she was finally in reaching distance to Cheshire, wood clashed with wood, sword against sword. _

_ Each lunge and parry seemed to be choreographed, each move more deadly and heart stopping as the dangerous dance went on. Each move Delilah made bore no hesitation, nor satisfaction, which contrasted with Cheshire's precise sword movements and attentive eyes to Delilah's rapidly progressing swordsmanship abilities. _

_ Each move made raged with extreme force and ferocity, to the point of where both swords broke after they had smashed against each other one last time. Cheshire threw the splintery remains of the sword to the side, and aimed his gun towards Delilah, who had no protection. Nevertheless, Delilah faced it with no fear in her eyes, but confidence. _

**O.M.G.**

How friggin intense was that? :DD

Sure, it may need some final editing, but it's still in pretty good shape.

Anyways, I have recieved two reviews. One, a fellow anime lover like myself, had come up with the answer to where Soul is from.

Aww yeah, I give props to: Girl That Procrastinates! (Love the username by the way.)

Her Percy Jackson stories are ah-mazing. She made me appreciate Connor just a little more. :)

The answer: SOUL EATER!

Very good anime, Halloween-themed, loveable characters (Especially Kid, Kid ish MINE) and captivating storyline. ShikionGirl approves.

And the second reviewer is Olivia Cullen!

Now why am I mentioning only these two people and not the other amazing people who had the heart to review on my story?

Well, GTP (Girl That Procrastinates) had won the Soul contest thing, so... yeah.

Olivia Cullen, however, made a comment that sort of got my attention. It was long, lacked proper grammar, and had a lot of critique.

Other than the lack of grammar, I loved it.

I do realize that the Alice arc is indeed taking a lot of time in this story. But it is to represent something- recovery takes _time_. As I had mentioned before, the Alice arc is for character development, which is to make Delilah have a "change of heart," which is sort of hard considering she barely has one.

But I highly doubt that Delilah will be up and jumpy about everything, turning into a normal teenage girl who's popular and nice to everyone.

Even I get chills just by thinking about that.

Eugh.

Delilah will **not** have a drastic change; however, it will be quite noticeable that her character has become more...well, you'll see.

And when Olivia sort of bashed me on my inclusion of anime in this story...

I respect her opinion that she does not like anime. I realize not everyone does- but since Disney Channel decided to bash anime on So Random! and Cartoon Network butchered Naruto on MAD, (and the fact that I finished the final episode of Soul Eater that day), I was more than eager to include one of my favorite things into this story.

Anime. :)

And it brings me joy to spread the word of anime.

**HATERZ GON HATE**.

Also, the "Blood Red Night" thing? ...I have to agree, that was pretty stupid.

But there is a reason for that! :DD

There's a reason for everything.

There's a reason why cheese smells bad the longer you leave it in the fridge.

It's because when it smells bad, it tastes good. :3

XD I don't like rotten cheese, lol.

Oh yeah, and the part about Delilah telling Gunther her story... _

I didn't anticipate on that happening. Ever.

Some secrets are never meant to be told. Everyone has their baggage.

So the reason why I answered this review so thoroughly is because these are questions that are probably rushing through many of my reader's minds. Olivia Cullen just had the guts to write them bluntly. So...props to you as well, Olivia. :)

I just wanted to let these details out and satisfy some of your hunger for more storytime. :)

And one more thing, you guys.

If you haven't anticipated from the preview, there _will_ be violence.

Watch out, kiddies.

He's climbing in your windows, snatching your people up.

Trying to rape 'em, so ya'll need to hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife, and hide yo' husband 'cuz they raping errybody out there.

XD lol, it's freaking 12:24 in the morning.


	14. Alice XI

Alice XI

Delilah has been through some tough times in her life, but dream or not this was definitely ranking at number three on her list.

Numbers two and one would be the time she ran away and had to live by herself, and reigning at number one would be the time she spent barely living at that hell house, naturally.

Those thoughts didn't help though, as she was repeatedly getting beat down by the psycho kitty known as Cheshire, and formally known as the Replica-of-Gunther.

"Focus, sweet Delilah! Block my attacks! Be strong!" With another roundhouse kick to the face, she fell down in a heap. He stared at her with a sigh, and helped her up. "You have to start learning how to deal with this type of pain, delicate one."

She rolled her eyes, then instantly regretted it considering each slight movement made her face hurt. "I know how to deal with this type of pain. Avoiding it is the problem," He laughed at her poor attempt at humor, and positioned my arms once again to teach her how to block my face.

"Your bones are very weak, Delilah. You need muiclac and nietorp in your diet!"

Delilah raised an eyebrow, wincing. "Don't you mean calcium and protein?"

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Do not start putting words in reverse, silly Delilah. It sounds strange that way."

They continued on with the painful training for several more hours to the point where both recipients were on the ground, trying to catch their breath.

"You…did…very well…for a beginner…!" Cheshire struggled to say, as he collapsed.

Delilah smirked. "Hah…I can take it…better than you can…you pussy cat…" With a struggle, she managed to stand and walk to her assigned guest room, secretly dreading the next day, yet never wanting to admit it to herself.

The cycle of training continued for a week, and despite the abnormally harsh and deadly training that would have been fatal for a normal teenage girl, Delilah's abilities grew instead of weakened. However, she became restless with each passing moment, as she longed to finish her training faster and stop the Spades once and for all.

Once again, Delilah was in combat with Cheshire, but was much more nimble than the first session, impressing him with her mastery of parkour and immense force in her blows. Jumping in the air, she landed a perfect drop kick on Cheshire's head symmetrically in the middle of his two ears. Cheshire dropped to the marble floor with a grunt, and desperately held his head in his hands, inwardly fearing that Delilah had broken his skull.

"How was that, pussycat?" Delilah sarcastically asked with her eyes slanted tauntingly.

Cheshire ignored the throbbing pain in his head, hoping that one of his remaining eight lives would save him from death. "It was nothing short of impressive, strong Delilah. However, you may need to mind your own body's limits as well. When you put that much force into an attack, it may not only hurt the enemy, but yourself as well."

"Fine. Let's continue then," Delilah moved quick, heading towards Cheshire with astounding speed. With a tough fist, she tried to dig it into his jaw, only to have him dodge it in a blur, and swerve his feet into a kick in her shins.

Seeing his actions, she back flipped and got back into her stance of one of her fists protecting her face, the other her stomach. With a growl, she pulled out one of the practice swords given to her out of its sheath, its wooden blade still sharp and lethal. Cheshire mirrored her action, but also pulled out a gun loaded with hard, plastic bullets with his free hand.

One after the other, BB bullets sped their way to Delilah only for her to block each one with her sword as she charged, whirling and spinning it in a mesmerizing fashion. When she was finally in reaching distance to Cheshire, wood clashed with wood, sword against sword.

Each lunge and parry seemed to be choreographed, each move more deadly and heart stopping as the dangerous dance went on. Each move Delilah made bore no hesitation, nor satisfaction, which contrasted with Cheshire's precise sword movements and attentive eyes to Delilah's rapidly progressing swordsmanship abilities.

Each move made raged with extreme force and ferocity, to the point of where both swords broke after they had smashed against each other one last time. Cheshire threw the splintery remains of the sword to the side, and aimed his gun towards Delilah, who had no protection. Nevertheless, Delilah faced it with no fear in her eyes, but confidence.

Cheshire fired.

Delilah held up her hand.

In one move, Delilah had captured the bullets in the spaces between her fingers, and then throwing them at Cheshire with the force of a rifle.

With a trademark smile, Cheshire had ducked the speeding bullets. "Delilah. I think you are ready for the next step."

Once again, Delilah and Gunther were placed in the throne room, and Queen CeCe and Rocky were standing up expectantly.

CeCe stepped forward, and looked at Delilah in the eye. "Please kneel."

Confused but uncomplaining, Delilah obliged, kneeling on her left knee.

"You now have acquired the skills needed to battle the Spades. You are now worthy to wear the armor of Blood, and wield the Vorpal Sword," With that, Rocky brought forth a suit of armor, tainted a dark scarlet. And behind CeCe's back, she brought forth a sword with a blade the darkest shade of black Delilah had ever seen.

"Wear your armor, strong Delilah," Cheshire whispered to her.

Finally understanding, she nodded and with Rocky's assistance, suited up.

With a cringe, CeCe announced, "By the rule of the Queen of Hearts, you are dubbed the Blood Red Night," while saying this, she took the blade of the Vorpal sword and ran it through her palm, drawing her blood. Stained with her blood, the sword was then lowered on Delilah's shoulders and head.

Wiping the blood off with a handkerchief, the Queen had gracefully threw the sword into the air and caught the flat sides of the blade between her two palms, holding out the handle to Delilah.

Taking the sword, Delilah did some practice cuts into the air and nodded.

"We'll take the Spade's castle as our own by tomorrow's dawn. I propose we leave tonight," Delilah confidently said, in true knightly fashion.

Delilah and Cheshire lead the army of pawns, knights and rooks. In the middle of it all, two horses carried a carriage, containing Queen CeCe and Rocky. It was nighttime, and the red moon was nowhere to be seen. Out of wariness and the possibility of being spotted, the army had traveled in the dark, instead of using their lanterns.

"Cheshire?" Delilah asked, uncertainty hinting in her voice.

Cheshire looked to the direction of where the sound came from. "Yes, sweet Delilah?"

She sighed. "What would happen…if I were to lose?"

Cheshire paused for a minute. "I do not think you are going to lose. I have seen you fight- you can handle it."

"Cheshire, I'm scared."

For the next three minutes, they rode in silence. Cheshire then broke the silence.

"It is normal to be scared, sweet Delilah. But you need to believe that you can win this," Cheshire put a hand on Delilah's shoulder, in an attempt to comfort her.

Delilah sighed, and put a hand on Cheshire's. "I get it, Cheshire. Thanks."

Finally, the dawn of the next day had approached, and the Spade's castle was in plain sight. Delilah's hands balled into fists and she unsheathed her Vorpal sword, ready to fight.

But what she wasn't ready for was the image that came before her, coming closer and closer.

On horses of blue, the Spade Royals rode on with a shining dragon as blue as the sea.

The faces of Madeline and Justin Flowers smiled at Delilah tauntingly.

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry I've been so busy. X'(**

**Well, I have a "feeling" that the next chapter will be the last of the Alice Arc. Or maybe the chapter after that. (lame joke, /shot.)**

**Meh, either way it's gonna end soon. ^_^"**

**And if you guys don't know, Madeline and Justin Flowers are Delilah's parents.**

**And I only just realized that 'Flowers' is sort of… a not intimidating name. It was sort of stupid of me to put that name as the last name. XD**

**But I guess it's ironic. So I'll keep it. :D**

**Anyways…DRAMATIC, HUH?**

**Aww yeah. The king and queen of the kingdom who are causing all of the damages to the Kingdom of Hearts are Delilah's parents. Now who didn't see that coming?**

**No one? Aww.**

**Well, I shall see you guys in the next chapter.**

**Oh yeah.**

**HAPPY 2012. :DD**

**To commemorate the new year, I have posted a new story. **

**:D It's FREAKING HETALIA, YYYEEEEAAAUUUUHHH!**

**Although it doesn't really do the Hetalia stuff. **

**Maybe later.**

**Who knows?**

**Anyways, it's a story about this prideful and headstrong female captain named Malaya (which means free in Filipino. :3) with a trusted and loyal bestie named Joseph, and of COURSE, if there's pirates and Hetalia, FREAKING ENGLAND HAS TO BE IN THURR.**

**:D It'll be a fun story.**

**Full of romance and adventure and a little comedy for those who like a hint of dark humor~!**

**And I can ramble on and on about it. :D But you'd have to read the story to find out.**

**The chapters are really short too, so it should be relatively easy to read. **

**I already have the next…7 chapters saved in my computer, so… XD**

**No problem with not updating for large periods of time there. **

**Unless I lose interest… then we have a problem.**

**But I guess I'll just surf Y o u t u b e and look at some Pirate!England slideshows and I'll be dragged back into interest. :D**

**Speaking of videos… I haven't been watching Shake It Up! lately.**

**Sue me.**

**It just…it's just getting a bit…boring for me? **

**/shot**

**Yeah… T_T So…yeah.**

**Avast. Whatever that means. XD**


	15. Alice XII

Alice XI

Delilah has been through some tough times in her life, but dream or not this was definitely ranking at number three on her list.

Numbers two and one would be the time she ran away and had to live by herself, and reigning at number one would be the time she spent barely living at that hell house, naturally.

Those thoughts didn't help though, as she was repeatedly getting beat down by the psycho kitty known as Cheshire, and formally known as the Replica-of-Gunther.

"Focus, sweet Delilah! Block my attacks! Be strong!" With another roundhouse kick to the face, she fell down in a heap. He stared at her with a sigh, and helped her up. "You have to start learning how to deal with this type of pain, delicate one."

She rolled her eyes, then instantly regretted it considering each slight movement made her face hurt. "I know how to deal with this type of pain. Avoiding it is the problem," He laughed at her poor attempt at humor, and positioned my arms once again to teach her how to block my face.

"Your bones are very weak, Delilah. You need muiclac and nietorp in your diet!"

Delilah raised an eyebrow, wincing. "Don't you mean calcium and protein?"

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Do not start putting words in reverse, silly Delilah. It sounds strange that way."

They continued on with the painful training for several more hours to the point where both recipients were on the ground, trying to catch their breath.

"You…did…very well…for a beginner…!" Cheshire struggled to say, as he collapsed.

Delilah smirked. "Hah…I can take it…better than you can…you pussy cat…" With a struggle, she managed to stand and walk to her assigned guest room, secretly dreading the next day, yet never wanting to admit it to herself.

The cycle of training continued for a week, and despite the abnormally harsh and deadly training that would have been fatal for a normal teenage girl, Delilah's abilities grew instead of weakened. However, she became restless with each passing moment, as she longed to finish her training faster and stop the Spades once and for all.

Once again, Delilah was in combat with Cheshire, but was much more nimble than the first session, impressing him with her mastery of parkour and immense force in her blows. Jumping in the air, she landed a perfect drop kick on Cheshire's head symmetrically in the middle of his two ears. Cheshire dropped to the marble floor with a grunt, and desperately held his head in his hands, inwardly fearing that Delilah had broken his skull.

"How was that, pussycat?" Delilah sarcastically asked with her eyes slanted tauntingly.

Cheshire ignored the throbbing pain in his head, hoping that one of his remaining eight lives would save him from death. "It was nothing short of impressive, strong Delilah. However, you may need to mind your own body's limits as well. When you put that much force into an attack, it may not only hurt the enemy, but yourself as well."

"Fine. Let's continue then," Delilah moved quick, heading towards Cheshire with astounding speed. With a tough fist, she tried to dig it into his jaw, only to have him dodge it in a blur, and swerve his feet into a kick in her shins.

Seeing his actions, she back flipped and got back into her stance of one of her fists protecting her face, the other her stomach. With a growl, she pulled out one of the practice swords given to her out of its sheath, its wooden blade still sharp and lethal. Cheshire mirrored her action, but also pulled out a gun loaded with hard, plastic bullets with his free hand.

One after the other, BB bullets sped their way to Delilah only for her to block each one with her sword as she charged, whirling and spinning it in a mesmerizing fashion. When she was finally in reaching distance to Cheshire, wood clashed with wood, sword against sword.

Each lunge and parry seemed to be choreographed, each move more deadly and heart stopping as the dangerous dance went on. Each move Delilah made bore no hesitation, nor satisfaction, which contrasted with Cheshire's precise sword movements and attentive eyes to Delilah's rapidly progressing swordsmanship abilities.

Each move made raged with extreme force and ferocity, to the point of where both swords broke after they had smashed against each other one last time. Cheshire threw the splintery remains of the sword to the side, and aimed his gun towards Delilah, who had no protection. Nevertheless, Delilah faced it with no fear in her eyes, but confidence.

Cheshire fired.

Delilah held up her hand.

In one move, Delilah had captured the bullets in the spaces between her fingers, and then throwing them at Cheshire with the force of a rifle.

With a trademark smile, Cheshire had ducked the speeding bullets. "Delilah. I think you are ready for the next step."

Once again, Delilah and Gunther were placed in the throne room, and Queen CeCe and Rocky were standing up expectantly.

CeCe stepped forward, and looked at Delilah in the eye. "Please kneel."

Confused but uncomplaining, Delilah obliged, kneeling on her left knee.

"You now have acquired the skills needed to battle the Spades. You are now worthy to wear the armor of Blood, and wield the Vorpal Sword," With that, Rocky brought forth a suit of armor, tainted a dark scarlet. And behind CeCe's back, she brought forth a sword with a blade the darkest shade of black Delilah had ever seen.

"Wear your armor, strong Delilah," Cheshire whispered to her.

Finally understanding, she nodded and with Rocky's assistance, suited up.

With a cringe, CeCe announced, "By the rule of the Queen of Hearts, you are dubbed the Blood Red Night," while saying this, she took the blade of the Vorpal sword and ran it through her palm, drawing her blood. Stained with her blood, the sword was then lowered on Delilah's shoulders and head.

Wiping the blood off with a handkerchief, the Queen had gracefully threw the sword into the air and caught the flat sides of the blade between her two palms, holding out the handle to Delilah.

Taking the sword, Delilah did some practice cuts into the air and nodded.

"We'll take the Spade's castle as our own by tomorrow's dawn. I propose we leave tonight," Delilah confidently said, in true knightly fashion.

Delilah and Cheshire lead the army of pawns, knights and rooks. In the middle of it all, two horses carried a carriage, containing Queen CeCe and Rocky. It was nighttime, and the red moon was nowhere to be seen. Out of wariness and the possibility of being spotted, the army had traveled in the dark, instead of using their lanterns.

"Cheshire?" Delilah asked, uncertainty hinting in her voice.

Cheshire looked to the direction of where the sound came from. "Yes, sweet Delilah?"

She sighed. "What would happen…if I were to lose?"

Cheshire paused for a minute. "I do not think you are going to lose. I have seen you fight- you can handle it."

"Cheshire, I'm scared."

For the next three minutes, they rode in silence. Cheshire then broke the silence.

"It is normal to be scared, sweet Delilah. But you need to believe that you can win this," Cheshire put a hand on Delilah's shoulder, in an attempt to comfort her.

Delilah sighed, and put a hand on Cheshire's. "I get it, Cheshire. Thanks."

Finally, the dawn of the next day had approached, and the Spade's castle was in plain sight. Delilah's hands balled into fists and she unsheathed her Vorpal sword, ready to fight.

But what she wasn't ready for was the image that came before her, coming closer and closer.

On horses of blue, the Spade Royals rode on with a shining dragon as blue as the sea.

The faces of Madeline and Justin Flowers smiled at Delilah tauntingly.

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry I've been so busy. X'(**

**Well, I have a "feeling" that the next chapter will be the last of the Alice Arc. Or maybe the chapter after that. (lame joke, /shot.)**

**Meh, either way it's gonna end soon. ^_^"**

**And if you guys don't know, Madeline and Justin Flowers are Delilah's parents.**

**And I only just realized that 'Flowers' is sort of… a not intimidating name. It was sort of stupid of me to put that name as the last name. XD**

**But I guess it's ironic. So I'll keep it. :D**

**Anyways…DRAMATIC, HUH?**

**Aww yeah. The king and queen of the kingdom who are causing all of the damages to the Kingdom of Hearts are Delilah's parents. Now who didn't see that coming?**

**No one? Aww.**

**Well, I shall see you guys in the next chapter.**

**Oh yeah.**

**HAPPY 2012. :DD**

**To commemorate the new year, I have posted a new story. **

**:D It's FREAKING HETALIA, YYYEEEEAAAUUUUHHH!**

**Although it doesn't really do the Hetalia stuff. **

**Maybe later.**

**Who knows?**

**Anyways, it's a story about this prideful and headstrong female captain named Malaya (which means free in Filipino. :3) with a trusted and loyal bestie named Joseph, and of COURSE, if there's pirates and Hetalia, FREAKING ENGLAND HAS TO BE IN THURR.**

**:D It'll be a fun story.**

**Full of romance and adventure and a little comedy for those who like a hint of dark humor~!**

**And I can ramble on and on about it. :D But you'd have to read the story to find out.**

**The chapters are really short too, so it should be relatively easy to read. **

**I already have the next…7 chapters saved in my computer, so… XD**

**No problem with not updating for large periods of time there. **

**Unless I lose interest… then we have a problem.**

**But I guess I'll just surf Y o u t u b e and look at some Pirate!England slideshows and I'll be dragged back into interest. :D**

**Speaking of videos… I haven't been watching Shake It Up! lately.**

**Sue me.**

**It just…it's just getting a bit…boring for me? **

**/shot**

**Yeah… T_T So…yeah.**

**Avast. Whatever that means. XD**


	16. AN: Hmmm

Author's Note: Hmmm…

To let every fan of Feeling know, it's not that the story discontinued. I was thinking after I wrote the previous chapter that it would be the end- you know. Delilah finally smiling, accepting. I would leave it to the imagination of you all to figure out what happened afterwards

They start going out, get married in a weird traditional way from wherever Gunther's from much to Delilah's chagrin, have kids, and die.

But apparently, you guys won't let this story rest in damn piece.

Lately, I've had writer's block. MAJOR writer's block. Like, I can't even write _Hetalia_. And I **love** Hetalia.

So if you guys want me to continue this, you guys are going to have to help me out.

Review or message me with some sort of encouragement or review of the story overall. What changes can be made, what can be improved, etc. I _need _this in order to strive to be better. To continue Feeling.

I have to admit though, I'm a little (REALLY) rusty on Shake It Up. I haven't watched any of the new episodes and I have no idea as to what Gunther's character or any of the others characters have developed into.

Shouldn't they be in high school already? I mean, it's about time. But… how old are they, again. O.o

Yeah. I'm this rusty. So please- fill me in, criticize, encourage. Because I need it if I'm going to get over this damn writer's block and continue/finish this story for you guys.


	17. After Who Knows How Long

e

"Gunther, would you shut up for one minute and let me think, God damn it…" Delilah cursed as she paced around the room, hands running through her hair, frantic.

His lips pursed and he patiently sat down, awaiting her response with excitement and fear in his eyes.

She stopped, and looked at him, groaning. "What will it be like."

He smiled. "Very traditional, of course."

"Yes, but when you say traditional, I think strange and against my religion… no offense."

He shrugged. "Yes, well. You saying 'God damn it,' is definitely against your religion since you do not have a religion at all."

"Atheism is a belief, still. So technically, it's a religion," she mumbled, plopping on one of the couches.

He cocked his head, almost pleading. "Delilah, think about it."

"What the hell do you think I'm doing, damn it... shit…" She kicked the couch leg with her heel, moaning some more. "Why do we have to do this anyway."

"I want to let the world and my God know that you belong to me. And I belong to you," Gunther said with a confident voice, sitting up straight in a matter-of-fact manner.

Delilah blinked a couple times, and sighed. "Damn… Why do you have to be so... so..."

"Charming? Handsome? Glittery?"

"Annoying."

Gunther's smile faded and his lips quivered. "So... I take it as a no…?"

She looked at him, a blank stare on her face. "If you weren't annoying, you wouldn't be you. And… I love you. Annoying, charming, handsome, glittery Gunther," She chuckled, and walked over to him, kissing his ever sweet lips.

"You'll take it as a hell yes."

**Author's Note:**

**Feel free to kill me and send hate reviews and all that. Sorry that it was so short and so… nyeah. I'm a little rusty, so. :P**

**But I /am/ thinking of a sequel. **

**If you want a little preview of what insanity is going on in my head, listen to "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White Tees (Tees, T's?). I feel… inspired by that. Actually, that was the song that inspired me to have Delilah's name to be what it is.**

**Everything else that suited her personality and whatnot just came out of coincidence and/or followed suit. xD;**

**Besides, I'm slowly trying to get back into the world of writing. Mainly because I need to finish up my Hetalia one shots and finish/release my SpainxRomanoxPhilippines family/sort of incestuous but not really considering they aren't related by blood or country romance story.**

**And if you're disgusted by incest…**

**Well. IRL, I am too.**

**But ANIME MAKES IT WORK, BITCH. :C**

**xD;**

**For instance. Itacest.**

**Germacest (Germancest? Gercest? Nyeah, something that involves GermanyxPrussia).**

**AmeriCan. (Isn't that /technically/ incest… no wait, they were adopted. But then again, they /are/ on the same continent…)**

**USUK (See it as you will, Father and Son, Mother and Son *coughprobablythatonecough*, Brother and Brother… xD;).**

**Yukio and Rin Okumura from Blue Exorcist.**

**And I /just/ realized that the pairings I listed are all yaoi pairings..**

**I thought I gave up on yaoi a long time ago… _ _ ||**

**Verdammt.**

**Oh well. :P Don't tell my friend Felicia it's a guilty pleasure of mine, she'll barrage me with teasing of me being reborn into the world of Yaoi.**

…

**I think it all started with Shizaya.**

**Seriously. Those two are meant. To. Be.**

**In Heaven, Hell (probably Hell) or wherever they end up when they kill each other at last.**


End file.
